The Dutch midfielder is out of favour at City and the club need to get down a catastrophically high wage bill.
Their manic spending in recent years has given their accounts a disastrous look, something that will need to change if they are to meet UEFA’s financial fair play criteria and compete in Europe.
De Jong, as well as the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Bridge will all have to leave for City to meet those criteria, as well as many more.
