It seems that Kevin De Bruyne is not yet ready to leave the Premier League – and no English football fan also wants to say goodbye.
So, is there a single club in the top flight that would not benefit from signing the Belgian genius this summer for free?
The goat of Manchester City has been sent to the garden by Pep Guardiola, but De Bruyne does not sound like he is on his way to filthy rich semi-pension in a social backward nation such as Saudi Arabia or Trumpland.
It said that De Bruyne stopped to be interviewed by reporters after Saturday's 2-0 win with Everton and his message was clear: “I can still play at this level” and “I'm open to everything.”
A move to Serie A, where veterans are welcomed, or the Bundesliga, where he was elected Footballer of the year in 2014-15 in Wolfsburg before he came to City felt more chance of staying at the Premier League.
But there was none of the usual, “city is in my heart, I could never play against them” Yadda Yadda from De Bruyne.
And why would there be when the club had been decorating for ten years, did not offer him as much as a one -year contract with a wage reduction?
So for sure, someone in the Premier League De Bruyne will make a serious offer to stay in England, where he settles with his young family?
The problem is that KDB will be 34 in June, while recruitment heads and analysts are all obsessed with youth and resale value.
The sublime passing skills and immense trophy-winning experience of De Bruyne do not fit into the 'projects' and 'policy' of most top clubs, where too many boardrooms are desperate to prove the smartest men in every room.
Not many compliments will be distributed for the no-brainer of signing a clearly beautiful player on a free.
All current rivals of City for Champions League football must be in the race for De Bruyne – Aston Villa, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and even Chelsea – the club that has dumped him as a young person and currently has the most dogmatic, age -transfer policy of all.
He may not play every week and those clubs may all have attacking midfielders with similar profiles – although no one has the same visionary passing reach.
But great players can always play together and every club that competes in Europe needs a serious number of options.
The most unlikely but intriguing, of everything, De Bruyne would be a 'reverse Tevez' and is on his way to Manchester United – where Chaos rules and the silent authority of the Belgian would be a blessing.
But when he was asked for the player last week, Ruben Amorim spoke about his capacities in the past tense and wished him the very best for “the rest of his life”.
And if it wasn't for all his medals, would De Bruyne not be an archetypal Spurs player?
Or what about Everton, where David Moyes needs some creative spark while looking at a new stadium and a brave new world?
Moyes is old school enough to recognize the value of experience.
Or maybe even Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, who worked with De Bruyne in City, would a doll have?
Guardiola is usually a fairly good judge when a player has reached the end of his shelf life-the £ 47.5 million sale of Raheem sterling to Chelsea felt like a huge gamble at that time, but he was proven immediately.
Perhaps he is right again with De Bruyne, whose fitness record has been fragmentary in recent seasons.
Or maybe KDB can find a new house in England and come back to find City?
The only thing it needs is that someone in the Premier League finds the 'imagination' to clear the bleeding and then we can discover it.
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