Kevin De Bruyne, a 10-year standout in the Premier League, may be headed to the Chicago Fire, according to multiple media reports on Thursday.
The 33-year old Belgian contributed 189 goals in 10 seasons with four-time defending champion Manchester City. De Bruyne recently announced that he will depart the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The struggling Fire hold the top priority to sign De Bruyne. D.C. United and NYCFC were the other two squads to inquire about the midfielder. Inter Miami CF previously negotiated with De Bruyne, but their three designated player slots are now filled, including one by Lionel Messi.
The Belgium captain favors heading to the MLS over signing a deal to play in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, he did not rule out returning to the Premier League or competing in Europe as his next venture.
“I’m open for anything, anything, just because I have to look at the whole picture,” De Bruyne said. “I’m looking at sporting, family, everything together, what makes the most sense for me and my family. I don’t know what that is, because it depends on when you speak to people and what they say about projects or something, like I said, I still feel like I can play at a good level, but then after I’ll have to make a decision once I really know a little bit more.”
Through 10 matches, Chicago is 3-3-4 with 12 points and sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference under former U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter. De Bruyne could join countryman Hugo Cuypers, who is tied for the MLS league with seven goals, and give the side a dynamic offensive presence.
“I think that in a perfect world you’d be able to invest across the entire roster and say, ‘OK, we can bring in world-class players in every position,’ but it’s not perfect,” Berhalter said. “There’s a salary cap, there’s a limited amount of designated players. So I think the most sense is to bring in an attacking player.”
The Fire have made the playoffs just one time (2017) in the last 12 seasons.
–Field Level Media
