£100m Saudi offer accepted, Mo Salah repeat - Kevin De Bruyne Man City future verdict given

Manchester City have played a big chunk of their season without Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian was injured in the opening Premier League game at Burnley and after five months on the sidelines there have also been some niggles since returning. De Bruyne notched his 14th and 15th assists of the campaign when he set up Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend, completing a fine run that saw him equalise against Real Madrid, tee up Bernardo Silva in the FA Cup semi-final and then score a wonderful header against Brighton.

His form and the fact that he has just one year remaining on his current deal have certainly alerted the Saudi Pro League, who are on the lookout for the biggest names in the game to grow a competition that Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte headed to last season. Selling De Bruyne has been unthinkable for so long, but as the summer transfer window approaches our writers ask whether it still is.

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"It's a sign of the difficulties Kevin De Bruyne has had this season that the question of City existing without him hasn't immediately been dismissed. De Bruyne defied science to play through his injury at the back end of last season, but a big hamstring issue in the Champions League final was followed by another big hamstring issue 20 minutes into his return.

"City had to live without him for five months, and it is not the first time they have asked themselves how long a Belgian suffering with injury problems can go on. In his absence, first Julian Alvarez and then Phil Foden stepped up to the party in