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And despite claims in Germany that City had made that offer, the Etihad club last night denied they had met the asking price.

The deal for the Belgium winger is now in limbo, with Wolfsburg having already rejected City’s £47m package.

That offer was an initial £45m, plus £2m in add-ons.

(Image: GETTY)

City had a private plane on standby to whisk De Bruyne, 24, to Manchester.

But instead of watching City’s big battle today against his former club Chelsea, De Bruyne is set to to play for Wolfsburg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The international team-mate of City captain Vincent Kompany is known to want to move to The Etihad.

But he is reluctant to formally ask the Bundesliga club for a transfer.

Now, City have to decide whether to improve their offer before the transfer window closes on September 1.

But the word at The Etihad last night was that no new bid had gone in.

City have already spent £49m on Raheem Sterling and £8m on Fabian Delph this summer.