Kevin de Bruyne sent Man City transfer instruction as Club World Cup rivals given path to trophy

Manchester City's Club World Cup rivals River Plate, from Argentina, have been ambitiously instructed by former player Carlos Morete to sign Kevin de Bruyne before the tournament begins and have been told, 'He'll make you a champion'.

The Belgian international, 33, is due to leave Man City with club legend status this summer as that is when his contract is due to expire. However, participation in the revamped Club World Cup tournament has prompted confusion around players with deals expiring as when they do, on June 30, the date falls midway between the June 14 start date and July 13 end date.

FIFA have granted special dispensation to participants to agree short-term deals with the likes of De Bruyne so that they are able to feature for the whole tournament rather than half.

However, they have also ratified an early transfer window between June 1 and June 10 before the Club World Cup starts to make signings if participating clubs are able.

"River has a manager and brains. Maybe they called and I don't know or it wasn't made public. Why didn't anyone take a plane to Manchester and go find out about De Bruyne?"

That was the query made by 73-year-old ex-forward Morete about former club River Plate speaking on Argentine radio station River Monumental. Initially, this claim was laughed off by his hosts.

But fully serious on the matter, he added: "He's 33 years old. You pay him $20m (£15m), he's free, and you see if you bring him in or not.

"He'll make you a champion, make you fight for championships, and solve all your problems. Go check out his physical condition. He's a real star and he's not that old. Make him an offer. He leaves City for free, pay him €20m per year and bring him in.

"If you buy a player for $14m like the