De Bruyne in line for stunning Messi link-up at Inter Miami

Tom Weber

Updated: 8 Apr 2025 04:54 CDT
4 min read

Kevin de Bruyne, Lionel Messi, Inter Miami — © IMAGO

Inter Miami have Kevin de Bruyne's Discovery Rights and can sign the Manchester City legend this summer, according to The Athletic.

The Belgian announced last week that his illustrious decade-long stint at Man City is coming to an end this summer. De Bruyne, who turns 34 in June, was not offered a new contract by the Cityzens and will become a free agent on June 30.

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It had been an open secret for a few months that this was likely to be his final season at the Etihad, and speculation surrounding his next move has been rampant.

There have been persistent links with a move to Saudi Arabia, although Fabrizio Romano recently shot down a move to ambitious second-tier side NEOM SC.

Major League Soccer has always seemed a more realistic destination for the veteran midfielder, although there has been uncertainty surrounding what club could sign him. Last year, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that he would join expansion side San Diego, but this is no longer the case.

De Bruyne to Inter Miami?

The Athletic has now revealed that it is not San Diego but Inter Miami who are actually able to sign the Belgian this summer. Already last week, it was reported that an unnamed MLS franchise, and not the expansion side, had De Bruyne's Discovery Rights.

This team has now been revealed as Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, and the report states that a move to Fort Lauderdale is certainly possible this summer.

The Discovery Rights mechanism essentially gives them the option of first refusal. Other MLS clubs would first have to acquire his rights from Miami before being allowed to negotiate a contract with De Bruyne.

Given his status in the game and likely salary demands, the 33-year-old would be expected to be a Designated Player, but this could create problems for Miami, despite co-owner Jorge Mas boasting about an 'unlimited budget' last year.

MLS clubs are only permitted to have three regular Designated Players on their roster, which Miami already have in Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

They would therefore either have to offload one of them or do some contract shenanigans akin to what the LA Galaxy previously did with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, where they initially handed him a non-DP contract before elevating him to a DP the following season.