Liverpool are said to have held a “conversation” with Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne about a summer move to the club, reliable journalist Sam Lee has claimed.
The Belgian caused the Reds many problems down the years with his attacking brilliance, cementing his status as one of the best-ever Premier League players.
De Bruyne’s time at City reached its conclusion at the end of last season, however, at which point it was unclear where his next destination would be.
Some Liverpool supporters clung to the hope of the 33-year-old making a shock move to Anfield, due to being a boyhood Reds supporter, but he has ended up at Serie A champions Napoli.
According to The Athletic‘s Lee, De Bruyne’s camp had a “short conversation” about a potential switch to Merseyside, but there are “conflicting accounts of who approached who”.
The wrong time for Liverpool to sign De Bruyne
De Bruyne’s brilliance as a footballer is undeniable at this point, with Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards speaking fondly of him back in 2021:
“I’ve talked about De Bruyne for so long, he’s just incredible to watch. He says he’s played there before. He’s just a complete footballer. He can do both attacking and defensive work. It takes some beating to be better than him, it’s just absolutely incredible. I think he’s consistent. He’s so passionate and he wants to show the world what he can do because he’s an absolute gem of a player. He’s one of the best midfielders we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.”
De Bruyne isn’t the player he once was, however, and there is a reason why City were not willing to keep him on, so Liverpool signing him wouldn’t have made a huge amount of sense.
Granted, there would have likely been moments of quality thrown in, but signing Florian Wirtz as the new attacking midfield star at Anfield has caught the attention of the whole of Europe far more.
Seeing De Bruyne in a Liverpool shirt would have had its merits, not least because of how much City fans would have disliked it, but it is a good thing that a move didn’t go through.
