- Manchester City expect to sign Raheem Sterling in the next 24 hours
- The Premier League club are spending £49m on the England attacker
- They will follow up the transfer with a similar bid for Kevin De Bruyne
- City will offer an initial £40m for the highly-rated Wolfsburg midfielder
- It is understood City are prepared to spend up to £50m on De Bruyne
By
Simon Jones for MailOnline
Published: 19:40, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 20:00, 13 July 2015
Manchester City are ready to follow up their £49million move for Raheem Sterling by launching a similar bid for Kevin De Bruyne.
The Barclays Premier League runners-up hope to tie up the loose ends on the deal for Sterling within the next 24 hours but will offer £40million for Wolfsburg midfielder De Bruyne.
The Bundesliga side have discussed a new contract for the 24-year-old who returned to training with his club on Monday.
City are prepared to offer up to £50m, however, to fend off competition from Paris Saint-Germain who are also keen on Angel di Maria of Manchester United.
Liverpool forward Sterling is expected to undergo his medical on Tuesday after a deal worth an initial £44m, plus £5m in performance-related add-ons, was agreed with City.
Sterling was allowed to miss travelling to Thailand for the start of Liverpool's pre-season tour on Sunday to finalise his move to Manchester.
They will look to follow up the British transfer record signing by splashing out on De Bruyne, though his club insist they have no obligation to sell the highest-rated 24-year-old.
Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs announced that they have no reason to allow De Bruyne to leave, but the Belgium international is understood to be open to a move back to the Premier League in England following his previous spell at Chelsea.