Manchester City Star Kevin De Bruyne 'Being Sued for £1.4m' Over Image Rights Dispute

Manchester City's Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has been arguably the Premier League's best player this season - but he faces a host of off the field issues in preparation for tomorrow's  Manchester derby (Sunday December 10).

He is being sued for £1.4m in a dispute over image rights and has now been summoned to appear in a Luxembourg court.

According to The Sun, the hearing regards De Bruyne signing a deal with a Luxembourg company appropriately named 'Image Rights' when he joined Chelsea from Belgian club Genk in 2012.

They set up the KHDB firm in the principality of Luxembourg to help the footballer avoid taxes on his off the field earnings in the UK.

However, he abandoned this business venture when he left to play in Germany for Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg, leaving the company with no income.

Image Rights boss Fabrice Louette has now alleged he and other shareholders were dumped from KHDB when De Bruyne moved back to England in 2015 to join City – leaving the player’s dad Herwig in sole charge of the company.

Image Rights claim their contract with De Bruyne was never terminated. De Bruyne’s lawyers refused to comment beyond saying that they will present a strong case.

City's star man has helped them gain an eight point lead at the top of the Premier League, but this might just be the off the field distraction they were dreading.