Wolfsburg deny agreement with City for De Bruyne

VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday denied German media reports they have agreed a transfer fee with Manchester City for Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, but admit they are negotiating.

German daily Bild and football magazine Kicker, plus local newspaper Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, all claim City are set to pay a new Bundesliga record of 74 million euros ($83.64m, £54m) for De Bruyne.

Wolfsburg’s director of sport Klaus Allofs has admitted De Bruyne wants to leave and that they are negotiating with City, but denied any agreement has yet been reached.

Wolves host Schalke 04 in a German league match on Friday and Allofs says they expect to have De Bruyne in their squad.

“The reports I have read are wrong, there’s no agreement with Manchester City,” said Allofs tersely.

“What I can confirm is despite our efforts to convince Kevin to stay with us and fulfill his contract, we have opened up negotiations.”

The transfer fee quoted, which could rise to 80m euros with bonuses, would smash the previous Bundesliga record when Liverpool paid Hoffenheim 41 million for Brazil striker Roberto Firmino in July.

City have been chasing the signature of the 24-year-old De Bruyne, a Belgium international attacking midfielder, for weeks.

Germany’s footballer of the year for 2014/15 played a key role in helping Wolfsburg win the German Cup last season as they finished second only to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga after he scored 16 goals and 29 assists.