Man City’s ‘bid to tie De Bruyne to new £350,000-a-week deal put on hold after his agent’s arrest’
Manchester City‘s attempts to tie Kevin De Bruyne down to a new £350,000-a-week contract have been put on hold after his agent was arrested, according to reports.
De Bruyne’s long-term adviser Patrick De Koster was arrested on Thursday and is being held by Belgian police while authorities conduct an investigation reportedly triggered by a complaint from the City star himself.
Newspaper Het Nieuwsblad claims that the probe, spearheaded by investigating judge and ‘fraud hunter’ Michel Claise, was started in 2019 and centres around a financial dispute regarding a number of discrepancies in his finances involving millions of pounds.
Manchester City’s bid to seal a new deal with Kevin De Bruyne is on hold after his agent’s arrest
Patrick De Koster (pictured), was arrested on Thursday and is being held by police in Belgium
However, The Mirror claim the investigation has dealt a blow to City’s hopes of sealing an agreement in the coming weeks to keep the 29-year-old for the peak years of his career.
The report adds De Bruyne – a £55million capture from Wolfsburg five years ago – is set to become City’s new captain following David Silva’s departure to Real Sociedad.
City are also keen to reward him for a fantastic campaign which saw him equal Thierry Henry’s Premier League record of 20 assists, but that plan will now have to wait.
The investigation has dealt a blow to City, who are set to make the Belgian their new captain
De Bruyne still has three years to run on his current £300,000-a-week deal, a contract brokered by De Koster, who is reportedly set to face magistrates on Wednesday.
The Belgium international has been represented by De Koster since 2004 but De Bruyne and his father Herwig are said to have made a complaint related to events which took place when De Bruyne was at Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
The report claims the midfielder’s move to the Premier League in August 2015 is also being scrutinised, and it is understood De Bruyne discovered De Koster has been transferring money through streams that had not been included in official documentation and that huge sums could not be accounted for.
The club want to reward De Bruyne for a great season in which he equalled the assists record
Het Nieuwsblad also claim researchers have explained that payments involving De Bruyne’s contract with Wolfsburg went through Liechtenstein, a notorious tax paradise, and were ‘not done by the book’.
De Koster is the manager of J&S International Football Management, a company which represents the likes of De Bruyne, Zinho Cano and Roman Bezoes among others.
Following De Bruyne’s switch from Wolfsburg to City, De Koster – along with his former business partner Didier Frenay – banked 10 per cent of the overall fee.
