Kevin de Bruyne has his own very good reasons for embarking on personal negotiations without the usual entourage of agents.
De Bruyne and his father Herwig lost faith in the process following a dispute with those representing him in the £58million transfer from Wolfsburg to Manchester City in 2015.
Patrick de Koster, his agent at the time, was arrested in Belgium last year by authorities looking into complaints about the split from the deal and other disputed contractual details.
Erling Haaland could well be joining De Bruyne at City but a
The criminal investigation is ongoing and, in the meantime, the De Bruynes have discovered they are perfectly capable of looking after their own interests.