Barcelona debts that exceed £1 BILLION stopped them from signing Man City star De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne has been all over the news ever since he signed a contract extension at Manchester City. But things could have been different had Barcelona landed the star midfielder in the previous transfer window. According to reports, Barcelona could not sign the Manchester City star as their debts had shot across the £1billion mark as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kevin De Bruyne new contract at Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne new contract at Manchester City extends his stay at the Etihad until 2025. As per the new contract, the Manchester City star is set to become the best-paid player in the Premier League. According to Paul Hirst of the Times, the Belgian star is expected to earn £385,000-a-week, which exceeds the £375,000-a-week contract that David de Gea signed with Manchester United back in 2019.

Barcelona financial report: Debts exceed £1 billion

Kevin De Bruyne new contract was particularly important for The Citizens to retain their star midfielder's value and services for the final two years of Pep Guardiola's stint at the Ethihad. Considering De Bruyne's influence at Manchester City, it is no surprise that several clubs have been interested in signing the midfielder. One such club was LaLiga giants Barcelona.

According to Hirst, Barcelona had explored the possibility of signing the Belgian from Manchester City but failed to do so as a result of increased debts at the Camp Nou. As per Barcelona financial report, debts exceed £1 billion. One can only imagine the devastating attack that Barcelona would have had, had they landed the signature of De Bruyne.

Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City stats

Following the contract extension of Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City put out a Tweet regarding the same. City's Twitter handle captioned the post, "DEFENDERS BEWARE We're thrilled to announce @DeBruyneKev has signed a contract extension until 2025! Tap to read the full story #ManCity | http://mancity.com." Opposition clubs certainly need to be wary of De Bruyne's influence at Manchester City. A look at the Belgian's numbers would be enough to justify that.

In 253 appearances for Manchester City so far, the Belgian international has scored 64 and assisted 105 goals. De Bruyne's best season at City was in 2019-20 as he had direct involvement in 39 goals (16 goals and 23 assists) from 48 games. Consequently, he not only won the PFA Player of the Year award but was also named the Premier League Player of the Season and the UEFA Midfielder of the Year.