Last month, BBC Sports columnist Guilim Balago in the Euro podcast suggested that De Bruyne could retire when his contract expires.
“He’s only 33 years old, but for whatever reason he has 20 minutes in each game, even if he starts, he has been introduced by Manchester City for a while,” Balagugi said.
“He’s not stupid – the fact that City haven’t renewed his contract, despite being a possibility of staying, a sign of a player who has reached its peak and can’t return more.
But Belgian football expert Christophe Terry was not in favor of that.
“What he has in his mind is the World Cup in 2026,” Terryor says. “He wants to continue playing football, but the whole juice has been out of his body and he has suffered a lot of injuries,” he said.
“He will choose a league (to play in it) that is under less pressure and games that may remain in good shape for the World Cup,” the Spaniard said.