Don't wait 30 years - sign up for our daily football email newsletter today! Sign up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

City are so confident the deal will go through that they’ve already booked the Belgian winger’s medical.

And that’s despite terms stil having to be agreed with Wolfsburg. It means De Bruyne, 24, could make his debut a week today against old club Chelsea.

And Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho claimed recently that he sold De Bruyne because he couldn't handle the Premier League.

But City have been convinced about De Bruyne's improvement and talent through his performances for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.

And Blues skipper Vincent Kompany has given the club a glowing endorsement of his international team-mate's ability.

As already revealed by Starsport, City are prepared to give De Bruyne a six-year contract worth £140,000-a-week.

His arrival would also take City's summer spending to £104m - more than any other Premier League club.

***

(Image: GETTY)

JOHN STONES admits he owes Roberto Martinez a huge debt of gratitude for propelling him to stardom as Chelsea look set to further rock the Everton boat with a £30 million bid.

The champions have failed with two previous offers of £20 million and £26 million but are confident they can capture the England defender at the third attempt.

Goodison boss Martinez will continue to dig his heels in, refusing to sell, after putting the boot into Chelsea skipper John Terry for saying Stones, 21, would be a good addition to the Stamford Bridge squad.

Terry said: "One day I won't be in the team but Chelsea are looking to the likes of John Stones for the future."

The message, though, from Everton is that Stones remains a Blue and the young star, bought from Barnsley for £3 million in January, says it's business as usual as he concentrates only on his Everton career.

Stones, thanking Martinez for his managerial guidance, said: "He's stern with us sometimes - he's got to be. He demands the best from us.

"The gaffer has been great with me and all the young lads here, knowing when to give us that praise and knowing when to tell us we've done wrong and need to improve.

"That's how he gets the best out of us. Roberto's a winner through and through and so are all of his backroom staff. And that's what we're trying to be, too."

It's clear Stones is still reading from the Everton script as he outlines what the club have to do to progress from the last campaign when they finished a disappointing 11th.

Stones added: "We've got to get back to what we did the season before last. We showed glimpses last season but there are a few things we've got to improve on. Minor tweaks to our game.

"I don't think we should put too much pressure on ourselves because we know we're a good team. Teams still fear us and my personal challenge is to keep my place in the team."