Kevin de Bruyne has been told that he should leave Manchester and join a 'routine winning machine' such as Liverpool, after City's Champions League loss.
On Wednesday night, City were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, despite leading by two goals as the game headed into the final minute.
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Two goals by Rodrygo in two minutes and a penalty by Karim Benzema at the start of extra time completely turned the game around, after Riyad Mahrez's brilliant strike.
It means that Pep Guardiola's side will once again fail to become European champions, the one remaining accolade left to earn at the Etihad.
That has led Stan Collymore to call for De Bruyne to move to Liverpool, something he actually called for two years ago, or Real, Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
"In August 2020, I wrote a column saying Kevin De Bruyne should go to Liverpool and, of course, at the time the comments on it were all, ‘Ha ha ha, why would he want to go there?’" the former Reds' striker wrote in his Mirror column.
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"Well, those who took the time to reply are not laughing now and I can’t help wondering if it has crossed his mind that it might be time for a change.
"As a player, you know when you walk off the pitch whether or not you have had the impact you wanted to have on a game. And after City’s Champions League exit, I’m sure De Bruyne will have been looking around thinking, ‘Are other people as good as I am? Will they help get me to where I need to be? Do I need to go to a club which is a routine winning machine?’
"His effectiveness in the biggest one-off games for club and country is actually very poor and maybe it’s time for him to go to a Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, a club, or more importantly organisation, that has that winning mentality which gets the best out of him. Look, Liverpool might not be able to afford his wages — City have the means to pay a player whatever he wants and my old club, big as they are, don’t.
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“And he may well walk out of City one day saying, ‘I’ve won the lot here’, and I’ve no doubt City will ultimately win the Champions League.
"But the feeling of winning what he has won so far with City will not push him anywhere near the heights he could still get to if he was with one of those other clubs because of their histories."
It's only a year ago that Guardiola's side got to the final of the Champions League, with De Bruyne having to go off injured before their eventual loss to Chelsea.
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Whilst the Premier League leaders are still short of winning in Europe, they're surely closer that Barcelona and Bayern Munich, despite their history.
Even before the season started most would have had them as more likely European champions than Real Madrid, and no one could have envisaged Carlo Ancelotti's side coming back from the verge of defeat time and time again.
Topics: Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City, Champions League, Liverpool, Premier League, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich
Ryan Sidle