In the 34th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Villa 2:1 at home, and currently returned to the third place in the Premier League standings with one more game.
De Bruyne started this game, sent 6 key passes, and was elected MVP after the game.
According to statistics, De Bruyne is in the leading position in the Premier League this season in the average chances created per 90 minutes and the average major chances created per 90 minutes in the open battle. The 33-year-old De Bruyne still proves to the world that he still has gas in his tank.
And this round De Bruyne not only conquered the fans, but also conquered the opponents! After the game, Sky Sports reported that Villa had already held internal discussions on the possibility of introducing De Bruyne.
Villa performed poorly in the first half of the season, especially in October-November, when they only won one league game, which caused their league ranking to plummet. Fortunately, Emery loaned Asensio and Rashford in time in the winter window, and the team took off immediately.
Villa has won 8 of the last 10 games, including a 3-2 victory over Paris. Even though they are currently ranked 7th in the standings, they are only 2 points behind the Champions League zone. In order to maintain the team's competitiveness, Villa is expected to make big moves this summer. In addition to keeping La Liga and Asensio, they will also sign De Bruyne, who is a free agent.
However, the biggest obstacle to signing a free agent is De Bruyne's weekly salary. De Bruyne has a huge contract of 400,000 pounds a week at Manchester City, and as a free agent, the player's salary requirements cannot be low.
The key is that De Bruyne's attitude gave Villa an opportunity. Shortly after deciding to leave the team, De Bruyne said in an interview, "I still hope to stay in the high-level league. I don't know if I will continue to play in the Premier League. I will see which team wants me!"
The implication is that De Bruyne is ready to take a pay cut to play in the Premier League. As for how much pay cut he can accept? It depends on the sincerity of the new club.
The top salary in the potential next home Villa is Kamara and Tielemans, both of whom earn 150,000 pounds a week.
But as an ambitious Premier League giant, Villa knows that to become a regular in the Champions League, it must be willing to invest heavily to introduce superstars, such as Asensio and La Liga.
For the loan of La Liga, Villa bears 75% of the player's 325,000 pounds weekly salary (240,000 pounds a week); for the loan of Asensio, Villa bears 100% of his contract (280,000 pounds a week).
Both of them have broken the team's weekly salary record, which shows Villa's ambition. Maybe they will really get a superstar in the summer window.
Interestingly, De Bruyne's potential next club, in addition to Villa, is Manchester United.
The Mirror revealed that De Bruyne was not only dissatisfied with the decision made by the top management, but also refused to play in the Club World Cup to prevent injuries from affecting his search for a new club. De Bruyne's contract will expire on June 30, and the Club World Cup will start in the middle of that month. He will not renew his contract with Manchester City until this summer's Club World Cup.
After the 2-1 Villa game, De Bruyne was interviewed for the first time about not renewing his contract: "I was a little shocked. I didn't receive any renewal offer for a whole year. They directly made the decision not to renew the contract. I was indeed a little surprised, but I can only accept the reality. To be honest, I still believe that I can play at a high level, just like my performance in the last game."
It can be seen that De Bruyne is angry about the ruthlessness of Manchester City's top management. On Tuesday night, former Newcastle goalkeeper Given said on Sky Sports when reporting the Manchester City vs Villa game: De Bruyne may go to another Premier League team. Keane interrupted: "Go to Manchester United? He doesn't have to move."