When a footballer leaves the club that they have served for the majority of their career and where they have spent their best years, they have roughly three routes to take. The first is to do what Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher and Gerard Pique did, among many others, and retire from football altogether, ensuring that you never betray the fans who you built such a strong connection with.
The second and most common route is to continue playing but to move abroad, ideally to a league where you can take things easy and where you are unlikely to come up against your beloved club again. Steven Gerrard, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta followed this path, leaving as legends but still having a bit of an adventure at the end of their playing days having long passed their peak.
Then there is the third road, the least travelled and most controversial: move to one of your rivals, beating your former employers to a huge title and making them forever regret letting you go. Luis Figo and Sol Campbell are the most famous examples although both players made unilateral decisions to leave and burned their reputations with their ex-teams in the process. But what about those players who had no say in leaving their club and felt hugely aggrieved about effectively being kicked out, with little thanks for everything they had given them?
It is a conundrum that Kevin De Bruyne is currently weighing up in his mind as he considers his next move after being forced out of Manchester City. It was first thought that he would take the second option and see out his career comfortably in the MLS, with Inter Miami, San Diego FC and Chicago Fire all possible destinations. But there is a growing possibility of him remaining not just in Europe, but in the Premier League and coming back to haunt City.
Liverpool have reportedly already reached out to the Belgian to discuss a contract. And considering his recent talismanic performances, plenty of other clubs should be queuing up to try to convince him to extend his stay in the best league in the world...
