MANCHESTER CITY flew Kevin De Bruyne into Manchester yesterday to complete a club record transfer deal, with a guaranteed fee of £53.8m and add-ons worth more than £4m.
It could presage an unprecedented end-of-window spend of more than a quarter billion pounds by England’s top clubs.
De Bruyne the former Chelsea forward who will play on the right side of City’s attack, has accepted personal terms on a contract worth up to £70m over five years.
De Bruyne’s arrival comes as both Chelsea and Manchester United work on deals that could set new high watermarks for moves into the Premier League if completed before the summer window closes on Tuesday evening.
United have not given up on their long-standing pursuit of Gareth Bale and are keen to do a deal with Real Madrid that might involve goalkeeper David de Gea moving in the opposite direction. Bale’s value in the deal would be more than £73m.
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Chelsea have also been exploring the possibility of a €100m move for Paul Pogba, who has established himself as the game’s most coveted central midfielder at Juventus. Any deal is likely to involve Brazil international Ramires heading to Italy in part-exchange.
Chelsea also remain in the market for a new central defender after seeing a series of offers for England international John Stones rejected by Everton.