Wolfsburg and Kevin de Bruyne may lament any move to Manchester City

Those near 3,000 travelling Eintracht fans who chanted their opprobrium well remembered one of the few bumps in Wolfsburg's - and De Bruyne's - road in a 2015 that has largely soared past any reasonable expectations. It was back on 3 February, a freezing cold Tuesday night at Eintracht's Commerzbank-Arena, that the Belgian midfielder momentarily snapped, calling a ballboy a "motherfucker"for apparently not returning the ball to him quickly enough with the Wolves trailing in the second half, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian. Normal service resumed before long - it was De Bruyne's late goal that enabled Hecking's team to prise a point from an unpromising situation that night - but the home fans haven't forgotten or, it seems, forgiven. De Bruyne, for his part, reacted with a sarcastic wave as his took his place on the bench on Sunday but some frustration was evident later on. "They can shout ‘son of a bitch' at me," he complained after the match, "and I have to pay €20,000," referring to the heavy fine imposed by the Deutscher Fussball-Bund (DFB) for the incident with the ballboy. All this might have added up to a minor footnote in any other context, especially given that Wolfsburg won 2-1, but with Manchester City's keen interest in De Bruyne hanging over their nascent season like a dark cloud, it all added to a tense atmosphere around him. Wolfsburg's sporting director, Klaus Allofs, told Sky that there were still no official bids on the table for De Bruyne but "in the next few days" he is expecting one to arrive. "Our plan is that he'll stay here," Allofs said - but it sounded like a declaration more of hope than expectation and a definite move away from the "not for sale" message of a few weeks ago. This is an unusual, if not entirely unprecedented, scenario for Wolfsburg. The anticipated completion of Baba Rahman's move from Augsburg to Chelsea - announced minutes after the final whistle had gone on José Mourinho's men capitulating at City - took Premier League spending on Bundesliga players this summer over the €100m mark in transfer fees alone - but Wolfsburg are supposed to be less vulnerable to the predators. The club has what Allofs refers to as "a unique ownership situation" under Volkswagen, having originally started as a works team for this town built for factory workers and thus being excepted from the 50+1 model. In the past, this has given rise to some monumentally reckless spending, although since the arrivals of Allofs and Hecking in late 2012, transfer movement has declined to fairly sane levels. The pair's style is stability but Volkswagen's money does a) help them pick up choice recruits one by one when they do want to buy; examples being André Schürrle and Max Kruse, the latter snatched from last season's rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach and b) keep the squad happy with generous salaries, leaving them in a position to rebuff offers for feted players such as Ricardo Rodríguez. It should have been enough to keep De Bruyne. Currently paid about €4.5m per year on a contract that runs to 2019, Wolfsburg were reported to be willing to up that sum to eight figures to extend that commitment. A new deal, while still hoped for, remains unsigned, though, and while De Bruyne is not actively agitating for a move, it is clear his head has been turned. There is an acceptance within the club that there are some elite suitors a player - and club - struggle to say no to and that City are one of those. Read more