Major Man City call, clear priority, Phil Foden impact - Kevin De Bruyne contract verdict issued

As one Kevin De Bruyne summer saga ends, another begins.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola confirmed this week the influential playmaker will not be leaving the club this summer amid interest from Saudi Arabia and comments from the player acknowledging the lure of a financially lucrative move.

But while the 33-year-old is staying at City, the conversation has now turned to his contract and what comes next. The Belgian's deal expires in the summer and De Bruyne will hold talks on his future when he returns to pre-season after an extended break following his Euro 2024 campaign with Belgium, which ended in the last 16.

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City rarely offer multi-year deals to players in their 30s but Kyle Walker proved last year that exceptions can be made. With De Bruyne having suffered with injury last term and the desire of Phil Foden to play as a number 10, De Bruyne and City must make a crucial decision on what comes next. We get the expert verdict from our City writers on what decision should be made.

De Bruyne used analytics last time to work out how much he was worth to City and for how long, and there will be similar data available now.

It feels like De Bruyne struggled in the second half of last season and in the biggest games he was taken off, yet the numbers he recorded were astonishing - on a level nobody in Europe could match despite the fact he missed half the season with injury. He would argue that with no injury issues the numbers will maintain and his performances will be better.

Three years for Walker