But the word at The Etihad last night was that no new bid had gone in.
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The 24-year-old featured in their 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday but Hecking suggested that the transfer talk was distracting him.
According to De Bruyne’s representative Paul De Koster: “There is no way we would do something like that”.
“I always said it is unlikely that Kevin will stay until the end of his contract in 2019, unless we were to improve in an outstanding way and the conditions at Wolfsburg would change”.
City were hoping that De Bruyne would force the issue by asking to leave the German club after they put their offer on the table.
Meanwhile, City are ready to raise their offer for Kevin De Bruyne to £50m to persuade Wolfsburg to sell the Belgium winger.
The combination of Otamendi and Zabaleta could set up a strong defence for City, while De Bruyne and Sterling could add pace down the wings. However, it now appears that they are considering a cut-price deal for Otamendi who has an official buyout clause of £35m. There is also the possibility that Eliaquim Mangala will be part of the deal, as Valencia are looking at the Frenchmen to replace the Argentine defender.
Wolfsburg are, however with Metropolis aborting a transfer for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba earlier this summer time because of the Frenchman’s wage calls for and Juve’s £71m switch payment, strenuous efforts are being made to make sure that De Bruyne arrives to bolster Pellegrini’s squad this week.
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“Everyone is talking about how well they are playing and what good players they have”.
