Kevin De Bruyne’s agent has quashed speculation the Belgian will leave Manchester City this summer if their European ban is upheld.
City will discover on Monday whether their appeal against UEFA’s two-year ban for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations has been successful when the Court of Arbitration for Sport announces its verdict.
And there have been suggestions that some of the star players in Pep Guardiola’s team may depart the Etihad Stadium if they cannot play in the Champions League.
De Bruyne is among those but his agent Patrick De Koster has insisted the 29-year-old midfielder, contracted to City until 2023, won’t be going anywhere.
He told Sporza: ‘At the moment he is not at all busy with that. He still has a three-year contract with a team that belongs at the top of the world, at a club and in a city where Kevin feels good and appreciated.
‘There will be many people who find this woolly, but he’s not thinking about a transfer.’
De Koster said it was inevitable that a player of De Bruyne’s class would be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The agent added: ‘There is always an informal interest for a good player in the football world. Whether that is KDB or Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo or Antoine Griezmann.
‘If everything I read in the papers were correct, then I would need a 48-hour watch and to be all over the world at the same time.
‘I can declare in good conscience here and even swear on my children’s head that everything I read is 90 per cent rubbish.’
Though City will finish a distant second to Liverpool in this season’s Premier League, De Bruyne has enjoyed another superb campaign with 11 goals and 18 assists in the league alone.
Guardiola’s team have already won the League Cup and could yet win the FA Cup and the Champions League before the end of the season.
‘If all these prizes are won, no one will complain about Manchester City’s season, I think,’ said De Koster.
De Bruyne has been in good form since football restarted last month, with three goals and two assists in six Premier League games as well as a goal at Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
That has set up a semi-final against Arsenal at Wembley on July 18. Their Champions League campaign is due to resume on August 7 with City leading Real Madrid 2-1 following the first leg of their last-16 tie.
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