The story was broken in “The Sun” just before de Bruyne played for his team in Sunday’s Manchester derby, which City won 2-1. According to “The Sun”, Image Rights director Fabrice Louette is seeking £1.4m from de Bruyne after he and other shareholders were removed from KHDB Management S.A. The latter was set up in November 2013, at which time Louette and Herwig de Bruyne were named as the two Class A directors of KHDB Management.

That was while Kevin de Bruyne was a Chelsea player and between his loan spells with German Bundesliga teams Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg, who later signed the player on a permanent contract. KHDB Management S.A share the same avenue Monterey address as Image Rights S.A.

However, Louette was removed from his mandate in August 2015, just days before de Bruyne was signed by Manchester City for a reported club record fee of €75 million. He has since been recognised as one of the best players in the Premier League. In January 2016 three other directors, Alain Goblet, Denis Van Den Bulke and Laurence Jacques were also removed, leaving Herwig de Bruyne “as sole director of the Company until the general meeting of shareholders which will approve the annual accounts of the Company as at 31 December 2018.”

The court case revolves around a claim by Image Rights that its contract with De Bruyne has never been terminated. In addition to the £1.4m in loss of earnings, the company is also seeking a £4,400 daily penalty for non-payment.

“The Sun” reports that “De Bruyne’s lawyers have refused to comment beyond saying they will present a strong case before the Luxembourg court.” The paper says that the player has now been summoned to appear in court in Luxembourg and that Manchester City officials and kit sponsors Nike may also have to give evidence.