Kevin De Bruyne will be able to discuss a summer move to a foreign club later this week after revealing that contract talks with Manchester City have not yet resumed.
The midfielder said last month that he put talks on hold after he was injured in September, which led him to spend two months on the sidelines, after initial talks about an extension before the season started.
And the 33-year-old, whose current deal expires in June and who has been a target for the Saudi Pro League before, will be allowed to enter into conversations with clubs from outside England from New Year’s Day.
De Bruyne confirmed there has been no movement between him and City, saying: “No. Nothing yet.”
Manager Pep Guardiola praised De Bruyne for his performance in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Leicester, when he returned to the starting 11 after two games on the bench.
He said: “I said many times there are no doubts about Kevin when Kevin is fit. He was one of the most impactful players in the history of City and the Premier League but sometimes he didn’t feel well in the recent past and sometimes he needs physicality to feel good, like everyone.”
De Bruyne admitted he is still troubled by the abdomen injury that interrupted his season. “It’s pubis. It’s a bit of everything,” he said. “It’s not nice but there’s not a lot you can do about it, just wait. I hope to get better now.”
When he returned in November, Guardiola only used him as a substitute because he still felt pain. De Bruyne then began four games in a row before coming out of the side and he admitted he is not sure how far off his best physical condition he is.
“I don’t know,” he added. “It’s hard to say. With the injury I had, I took a while and then I had four games in ten days which was hard. I’m happy for today.”
City had only won once in 13 matches before the victory at Leicester and De Bruyne said the worst run of his managerial career had an impact on Guardiola.
“I think obviously he was a bit more down than usual, but I don’t think it was a lot of difference,” he said. “You can’t change yourself after having a bad moment.”
