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Kevin De Bruyne is almost certainly leaving the club in January, either on loan or on a permanent basis. The player's agent had some comments today indicating that his client would prefer the latter, via ITV:
"Another loan wouldn't be good for the player or the club. The player and his family would like to secure a permanent solution because he has been out on loan already twice."
"It's a World Cup year and for this reason he needs to play. Now in the next few hours or days, we will see if somebody finds an agreement with Chelsea. If there is an agreement I will speak with the player about what we will do. His preference is to go back to the Bundesliga. There have been discussions with Wolfsburg and other clubs."
The agent most certainly seems to be indicating that the player wants a permanent switch, though I'd be surprised if this wasn't an idea being pushed on KDB with financial considerations in mind. De Bruyne could potentially make a bit more money with a new contract coming from a permanent move, while the agent stands to make a significantly larger amount from any deal. A loan wouldn't really benefit either from a financial perspective, at least in the short term.
The club are in a bit of a different situation, as selling De Bruyne in January makes very little sense. Chelsea are in fantastic shape to comply during the first few FFP monitoring periods, so pushing any player sales into next season's accounts (or even the season after) would greatly benefit the club. There's also every reason to believe that the young Belgian's value will rise, and with 3.5 year remaining on his Chelsea contract, there's no pressing need to sell.
Where this situation goes is impossible to say at the moment, but I'd certainly expect to see De Bruyne remain a Chelsea player when the January window closes. I'd assume he'll be playing the second half of the season elsewhere, but I just find it hard to believe the club would sell such a high-ceiling talent for anything less than stupid money. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see though, as it's unlikely that this situation is sorted early.
