MLS, Saudi Arabia or another club in Europe: What's next for Kevin de Bruyne?

One of the best Premier League players of the modern era is looking for a new club after news broke in early April that Manchester City would not be offering Kevin De Bruyne a new contract at the end of the 2024-25 season. The news wasn’t a huge shock considering recent injuries and City’s need to reinvent after a campaign to forget, but the availability of an all-time playmaker — 188 goals and assists in 279 City appearances, along with six league titles, a Champions League crown and several other accolades — has sent the rumor mill into high gear.

And so, where will he go? There’s heavy interest from within Major League Soccer as reports emerged last week that Lionel Messi’s club Inter Miami acquired De Bruyne’s MLS discovery rights, which makes it possible De Bruyne could land there — but it’s far from a guarantee. The Saudi Pro League is also reportedly interested, but we shouldn’t rule out a move elsewhere within Europe either. With that, ESPN reporters Rob Dawson, Lizzy Becherano and Jeff Carlisle answer some of the big questions about his next move.

Is Kevin De Bruyne interested in a move to MLS?

There’s definite interest from his side. He’s attended MLS games in the past, in particular in Los Angeles, and the U.S. is the perfect place to move with a young family.

But there’s also been interest from Saudi Arabia and, not that long ago, his agent did a tour of the Saudi Pro League’s (SPL) major clubs. Saudi Arabia can perhaps offer more money than MLS, but it’s a bigger adjustment in terms of lifestyle.

One of the issues for both MLS and the SPL is that after a decade in the Premier League, both leagues would be viewed as a step down. Sources have told ESPN that De Bruyne still feels capable of playing at the highest level and was open to renewing his contract at Man City on the same terms.

Asked after the win over Crystal Palace about his next move, he left the door open. He even suggested his career in England might not be over, telling Viaplay, “Whatever project is available, I’m willing to listen. I love football. I love to play football and if a a nice project comes, and my family is good with that, then we are able to make a decision.”

It’s hard to believe that there’s a landing spot in the Premier League, but it’s possible he could find a home in another of Europe’s top-five leagues — Spain perhaps, or Italy. If those offers don’t arrive, the view is that he would prefer to move to MLS over Saudi Arabia, as long as it’s the right club and the financial details can be worked out. — Dawson

What can Miami do with De Bruyne’s MLS discovery rights?

Major League Soccer employs a “discovery rights” system where each club can add up to five players to this list, reserving the exclusive right to begin negotiations with the player without having to compete with other clubs around the league.

As the newest expansion team, MLS awarded San Diego FC with seven slots on their discovery list. They previously registered De Bruyne to the list before dropping him due to concerns over a potential salary — teams hold the ability to list and remove players from their list at any point in time. Inter Miami then added him to their list, retaining the right to discuss a possible contract.

A source explained to ESPN that teams around the league are not notified when a player’s status changes in the discovery rights system. Instead, the league uses an online database called MLS Connect that allows teams to check the availability of a player and begin the registration process if unclaimed by another club.

In the case of De Bruyne, any team other than Inter Miami that attempted to register him to the platform would automatically be waitlisted. The program, however, does not reveal which club holds the right for a specific player, as discovery lists are not made available for other clubs to view.

Should another team want to sign De Bruyne, the team’s sporting director or general manager would have to negotiate a deal with Inter Miami to obtain the “discovery rights” for the former Manchester City player in exchange for general allocation money. The extensive procedure — known as the “discovery process” — begins with sending $50,000 to the league to be held in escrow, a source told ESPN.

Per league rules, “The club with the player on its Discovery List will then have five days (or three days during the Secondary Transfer Window) to either (i) accept the General Allocation Money and pass on the right to sign the player or (ii) make the player a genuine, objectively reasonable offer.”

Additionally, when negotiating with a player, the team interested in the player must also prove they have the roster capacity to onboard the individual at the time the contract begins. If the team has no current margin for the player at the time an offer is made, the club must provide plans to the league on how the roster will be compliant to the rules and regulations when said player eventually joins.

Inter Miami’s decision to register De Bruyne could stem from the genuine desire to sign the player in the upcoming months, or as a tactic to force another club into a trade for the rights in a bid to obtain general allocation money, which is how teams build rosters in MLS.

Given the popularity of De Bruyne and Inter Miami’s limited roster capacity, a league source speculated to ESPN that the team is likely trying to make money from registering De Bruyne. — Becherano

If Miami wants to sign De Bruyne, could the team fit him under the salary budget?

The answer is yes, but it’s complicated. Granted, that’s a description that fits far too many MLS inbound transfers given the rather arcane rules surrounding player movement, but that’s the situation here.

In this case, De Bruyne couldn’t be signed as a designated player — a player whose salary is not limited by the league salary cap — at least initially. Miami already has three DPs — the maximum allowable amount — in Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi. Some DPs can be converted to non-DPs and have their hit on the salary cap bought down through the use of a mechanism called targeted allocation money, which is basically a bucket of funds each team receives to lessen a player’s impact on the cap so that they don’t count as DPs. But there are limits.

If a player makes more than $1.74 million per year, they can’t have their cap hit brought down to non-DP territory. Alba, Busquets and Messi all make well north of $1.74 million and therefore aren’t TAM-eligible. That means De Bruyne would have to sign a contract that would pay him no more than $871,875 — half the aforementioned max-TAM amount — for the remainder of 2025.

Could the deal then be structured to pay him far more — say $15 million per year — in subsequent years of the contract? It could, but it would have to be done via club option years on the contract, meaning the money wouldn’t be guaranteed to De Bruyne. Miami could decide after 2025 that De Bruyne isn’t a fit for whatever reason and the player would be a free agent. Would De Bruyne take such a risk?

Such a deal would also have to survive scrutiny from the league’s player department, which approves all player contracts. If the player is high-profile enough, approval would have to come from MLS EVP for Player Strategy and Relations Todd Durbin, and in rare instances, MLS commissioner Don Garber himself.

One source told ESPN that Miami would be pressed on the genuineness of the option years, and would have to attest “that there is no promise that they will exercise any options and that there aren’t any other agreements with the player, and that the contract itself represents the actual terms of the deal.”

This degree of scrutiny is similar to what happened with Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he signed with the LA Galaxy back in 2018. He was initially signed to a two-year TAM deal for 2018, only for his deal to get redone in 2019 for $7.2 million. Opposing teams cried foul, arguing that the Galaxy essentially played with four DPs in 2018, but the deal was allowed to go through.

The following season, with Ibrahimovic now counting as a DP, LA had to jettison Giovani dos Santos for nothing in order to be roster compliant. Following his departure, Ibrahimovic also acquired an ownership stake in Swedish side Hammarby, which was also owned by Galaxy owners AEG.

Miami would face a similar challenge in terms of roster compliance, though Alba, Busquets, Messi and Luis Suárez are all out of contract after 2025. One of the current DPs could opt to take a pay cut, sign for another club, or retire.

Given that De Bruyne would have to play in 2025 for a significant discount based on his salary with Man City, what’s to stop Miami from making a side deal with him so he’s made whole? It’s a fair question given that Miami has been penalized in the past for skirting the roster rules by not accurately reporting a player’s total compensation, and for playing with too many DPs. A source confirmed to ESPN that MLS has a compliance process for these deals, one that’s become more robust in the past two to three years.

What elements could ultimately blow the deal up? MLS deciding that De Bruyne isn’t TAM-eligible and forcing him to be considered a designated player. Or, of course, De Bruyne deciding that he isn’t quite done with European soccer just yet, or another MLS team could enter the mix too.

Speaking of which… — Carlisle

If not Miami, what other MLS teams could sign him?

On Wednesday, Fabrizio Romano reported that the Chicago Fire has emerged as a possible destination. Subsequent reporting by The Athletic indicated that D.C. United and New York City FC had also expressed interest. A Fire spokesperson declined to comment, but as a landing spot, Chicago makes plenty of sense.

Right now, the Fire has two DP slots accounted for with forward Hugo Cuypers and winger Jonathan Bamba. Under head coach/director of football Gregg Berhalter, De Bruyne would fit in well as the team’s third DP.

In terms of finances, that shouldn’t be an issue for Chicago. The Fire was linked with Brazilian star Neymar earlier this year, so it’s clear they have the means and the desire to get a deal with De Bruyne done.

Chicago would also have to negotiate with Miami to acquire De Bruyne’s MLS rights, which would likely require the Fire sending several hundred thousand dollars of GAM to the Herons. As of Feb. 28, the Fire had just under $450,000 in GAM available. — Carlisle

If not MLS, what could be next for De Bruyne?

That really depends on whether De Bruyne wants to take a step down or not.

Despite several injuries in recent years, he’s still only 33 and he might feel that the interest from MLS and Saudi Arabia will still be there in a couple of years. That would give him time to make one last move in Europe, but the issue is where does he go? It’s unlikely there will be interest from the Premier League with his existing salary of around £400k per week.

You imagine he would welcome interest from somewhere like Barcelona, but they are struggling financially as it is. Serie A clubs have taken punts on older players in the past. His former Man City teammate Kyle Walker — who is older — made the move to AC Milan on loan in January. Beyond that, he could return to Genk in Belgium, where he started his career, if he’s feeling sentimental as his career winds down.

If De Bruyne wants to stay in Europe, his options will be limited — and even then he might be forced into taking a pay cut to make it happen. The most likely scenario remains a move to the U.S. or Saudi Arabia and, for now, MLS has the edge. — Dawson