Chicago Fire FC is in talks with Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne on a designated player contract, a source confirmed to ESPN, and look to have the inside track to sign the Belgium playmaker if he moves to MLS.
De Bruyne announced last month that he would leave Man City at the end of the season when his contract with the English club expired. The 33-year-old has been with the four-time defending Premier League champions since 2015.
Inter Miami CF still has De Bruyne's discovery rights, which is a right-of-first refusal mechanism MLS uses to prevent its teams from bidding against one another for a player's services. But Miami already has the maximum number of DPs with Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi, though all three are out of contract at the end of the season.
That appears to have opened the door for the Fire.
New York City FC and D.C. United have also reportedly expressed interest, but Chicago, with only two DPs on its roster and ambitious ownership in Joe Mansueto, appears to be an ideal landing spot should De Bruyne decide to play in MLS.
De Bruyne could also remain in Europe. Asked after the win over Crystal Palace on April 12 about his next move, he left the door open.
"Whatever project is available, I'm willing to listen," De Bruyne said. "I love football. I love to play football and if a nice project comes, and my family is good with that, then we are able to make a decision."
Two weeks ago, Chicago coach Gregg Berhalter, while not mentioning De Bruyne by name, said that he was looking for a creative attacking player to augment forwards Hugo Cuypers and Jonathan Bamba.
"I think that in a perfect world you'd be able to invest across the entire roster and say, 'OK, we can bring in world-class players in every position,' but it's not perfect," the former USMNT coach said. "There's a salary cap, there's a limited amount of designated players. So I think the most sense is to bring in an attacking player.
"Someone that can change the game consistently from an attacking end and can work with the offensive weapons we already have to bring out more in them and help them continue and overall help the team both on and off the field."
The Athletic was the first to report that Chicago had the inside track to land De Bruyne.
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