Kevin De Bruyne has been urged to consider a transfer from Liverpool after Man City’s recent failure

Former Anfield forward Stan Collymore believes Jurgen Klopp’s stars would get more out of the Belgian than his current Etihad team-mates in the biggest games

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De Bruyne opens up about Guardiola’s influence on him

Kevin De Bruyne should consider joining Liverpool this summer – if the Kop stars can afford him.

That’s the view of former Anfield forward Stan Collymore, who reckons the Reds’ history would make winning the top prizes even more special than winning with Manchester City.

The hopes of De Bruyne and his City friends to complete a Premier League and Champions League double died in heartbreaking circumstances on Wednesday night when Real Madrid scored twice in added time to force extra time. Karim Benzema then penalized the draw in Real’s favour, and Carlo Ancelotti’s men held on to reach a final with Liverpool in Paris on 28 May.

The best City can hope for now is retaining their Premier League title, although Jurgen Klopp’s four-time chasing Reds still hope to have much to say about that.

On the back of City’s Champions League Aus, mirror sport Collymore said: “In August 2020 I wrote a column saying Kevin De Bruyne should go to Liverpool and of course the comments at that point were all ‘Ha ha ha, why would he want to go there?’ Well those who took the time to reply aren’t laughing now and I can’t help but wonder if it had occurred to him that it was time for a change.

“As a player, when you leave the field you know whether or not you’ve had the impact you wanted on a game. And with City eliminated from the Champions League, De Bruyne will no doubt have looked around and thought: ‘Are others as good as me? Will they help me get to where I need to be? Do I have to go to a club that’s a routine winning machine?’

“His effectiveness in the biggest singles games for club and country is actually very poor and maybe it’s about time he went to Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, a club or more importantly an organization that this win has mentality that gets the best out of him. Look, Liverpool might not be able to afford their wages – City have the means to pay a player whatever they want and my old club, big as they are, don’t.

“And he might leave City one day and say ‘I’ve won everything here’ and I have no doubt that City will ultimately win the Champions League. But the feeling of winning what he’s won so far with City won’t take him anywhere near the heights he could still reach if he were at one of those other clubs because of their history. The difference is tangible and I wonder if KDB, who comes from a family of Liverpool fans and whose hero was Michael Owen when he was younger, needs that now to become the difference in the biggest games.”