The club have successfully managed the decline of their best players and should make no exception for the Belgian
Before making a shock move to become CEO of Manchester United, Omar Berrada spoke to about his role in turning Manchester City into the shrewdest financial operators in football.
City had just celebrated world-record revenues of £712 million ($902m) on the back of winning the treble but Berrada was keen to emphasise that their success was as much down to driving a hard bargain as it was to their ability to splash out on expensive superstars such as Erling Haaland or Jack Grealish.
The Frenchman, who left Barcelona to work for City in 2010, explained how he had helped the club "make the right decisions and to take the emotions as much as we can out of those decisions". He also warned against going down a "slippery slope" of caving into the demands of players, agents or clubs when negotiating contracts.
Berrada may have left City but the club would do well to keep on following his advice when it comes to negotiations, even with their best-loved and most productive players. And that includes Kevin De Bruyne, who is set to attract interest from Saudi Arabia this summer.
Getty Unwritten policy
City's talismanic midfielder is into the last 18 months of his contract and will turn 33 in June, which could give the club an uncomfortable dilemma when it comes to discussing his future, particularly if he asks for a new contract to ward off the interest from Saudi Arabia and potentially Major League Soccer.
To many, particularly the 50,000 supporters who rose to their feet to welcome De Bruyne back from injury in January, City giving one of their best ever players a bumper new deal is a no-brainer.
However, the club have an unwritten policy when it comes to contract negotiations to players into their thirties, which in theory prevents them from offering long-term deals. The policy is intended to prevent them paying high salaries for years-on-end to individuals who are no longer worth it.
They are not the only club to do it. Bayern Munich only offer 12-month contracts to existing players who are past the age of 30. And notwithstanding their current season, it has served the Bavarians pretty well over the years.
AdvertisementGetty Walker is the exception
City's stance has led to them parting with some players before they would have liked to, most notably Ilkay Gundogan. Yet it has also helped City remain ahead of their rivals financially and maintain harmony in the dressing room.
There have been some exceptions, such as offering 31-year-old Riyad Mahrez a two-year contract in 2022. That turned out to be a good move as just a year later, when the Algerian would have been able to leave on a free transfer had he not signed the new deal, Mahrez ended up being sold to Al-Ahli for £30m ($38m).
The main exception is Kyle Walker, who signed a three-year contract last summer at the age of 33. City were prepared to be flexible in that instance as Walker had a serious offer on the table from Bayern Munich and were wary of losing another senior player at the same time as parting with Gundogan.
So far it is working out well, with Walker captaining the team and playing with even more consistency than last season, despite the turmoil in his private life. Nonetheless, City would be better off keeping Walker as the exception rather than making him the catalyst to end the policy. Even if it means parting ways with De Bruyne in 2025 or even sooner.
(C)Getty ImagesCity's greatest player
Make no mistake about it, De Bruyne is the one of best players City have ever had, if not the greatest. The numbers speak for themselves. In 367 games for City, the Belgian has scored 98 goals and set up a further 161.
Despite being a midfielder, he is City's fourth all-time top scorer and is two goals from leapfrogging Shaun Goater into third. If he stays the length of his current contract until June 2025 and stays relatively injury-free, he could quite possibly overtake Raheem Sterling in second on 131 goals, even if he will never unseat Sergio Aguero on 260.
He is the third-top provider of assists in the Premier League with 106, just six away from overtaking Cesc Fabregas in second, although overhauling record-holder Ryan Giggs on 162 might be a stretch. However, De Bruyne has amassed his tally in far fewer games than his predecessors, reaching 100 assists in 237 games, 56 fewer than Fabregas.
There is also a case to be made that he is the greatest player the Premier League has ever seen, especially in the last few years.
"He's been the best player in the Premier League for the last four, five years," Jamie Carragher told in January. "He's been the difference for Manchester City, when you think of how often they've pipped Liverpool in terms of league titles. If you put him in a Liverpool shirt then I think they would win the league, that's how dominant he is."
GettyKnowing his value
De Bruyne, however, knows that his value is even greater and, when negotiating his last contract with City, hired an analytics firm to demonstrate his worth to the club, who were offering him a lower salary than his previous deal. Analytics FC found that De Bruyne was the best player in Europe according to its attacking contribution metric, which considers the impact – positive and negative – of each touch a player has in a match.
This was a time when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were still at their peak, playing for Juventus and Barcelona respectively. De Bruyne was able to show through the data that not only would City be far worse off without him, but that he could strengthen a European rival if he did get what he thought he was worth and boost their chances of winning the Champions League over City.
City eventually saw the logic and must be glad they agreed to pay De Bruyne what he was asking. In the two seasons after signing his last contract in 2021, he scored 29 goals while adding 46 assists, helping City to a further two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Champions League which they had craved for so long.
He may have got injured during the final against Inter but he had been crucial to getting them there, slamming in the equaliser against Real Madrid in the semi-final first leg. He had also stepped up in what was effectively the title decider against Arsenal, scoring twice.
