Kevin De Bruyne 'agreed to Bayern Munich switch' before signing for Manchester City from Wolsfburg

Belgian joined City in August 2015 for £54.5m, the second biggest transfer fee in British history

Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City should be the obvious beneficiaries of Chelsea’s collapse ( (Getty)

Kevin De Bruyne ‘reached a personal agreement’ with Bayern Munich before his £54.5m transfer to Manchester City but the deal fell through after the Bavarian giants refused to meet his astronomical valuation.

The 24-year-old left Wolfsburg in late August after City out-manoeuvred Bayern to beguile De Bruyne and secure the deal in time for the British transfer deadline. The former Chelsea player’s agent Patrick De Koster claims he held two meetings with representatives of the Bundesliga club in the summer of 2015.

De Bruyne, a Belgium international with 38 caps for his country, has scored 11 goals in 27 appearances for Manuel Pellegrini’s side this campaign, making eight assists.

But things could have been markedly different had the German club been prepared to offer more than €50m. The fee which City eventually paid is eclipsed only in British records by the £59.7m Manchester United paid Read Madrid for Angel Di Maria in 2014.

De Koster is quoted as saying: “Kevin's heart was beating for the Bundesliga, where he broke through at Bremen and became a star at Wolfsburg.

“I'm convinced he would have played for Bayern if they had been able to pay the asking price. We reached a personal agreement with Bayern after two meetings.

"The deal collapsed on the asking price. I think that Bayern wanted to pay €50m, but not a euro more.”