Kevin De Bruyne, the disruptive lynchpin in Guardiola’s City machine
Kevin De Bruyne, the disruptive lynchpin in Guardiola’s City machine
“The £60M reject”
These were the words printed in large text on a British national daily tabloid ahead of Kevin De Bruyne’s move to Manchester City in 2015 from Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg.
His first stint in England with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea was a forgettable one. After signing with the Blues in 2012, he was sent off on loan to Werder Bremen for the season, before being kept as a benchwarmer in the 2013-14 campaign. He played only three games in the league before Mourinho told him that he was not part of his plans.
A decade later, as the Belgian prepares to play his last Premier League game in light blue – against Fulham on Sunday – not only have the critics been proven wrong, but De Bruyne has emerged as one of the best, if not the best, midfielders to have graced the pitch.
Arriving in Manchester as a 24-year-old, his quiet and reserved nature off the field was compensated by his impact and mastery on the ball. De Bruyne has played more than 31,000 minutes for City in 421 appearances in all competitions, bagging 108 goals and, more strikingly, 177 assists.
From assisting the league title-winning goal against Aston Villa in the 2022-23 season to scoring a thunderbolt at the Santiago Bernabeu, and many more, De Bruyne has left an indelible mark.
His contributions have been telling in the 16 trophies that City racked up during his stay, including six Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League crown.
Stepping onto English soil after winning the player of the year in Germany for his performances with Wolfsburg in the 2014-15 season, De Bruyne quickly became the apple of the City faithful’s eyes.
His ability to find a forward’s run behind the defenders from anywhere on the pitch awed the players and viewers alike. Pep Guardiola’s arrival in 2016 helped De Bruyne unlock new aspects of his game and transform himself into a more free-flowing box-to-box midfielder.
While most players playing under Guardiola eventually fall into a system, De Bruyne’s artistry was too good to be kept confined. Misplaced passes did not stop him from trying again and again, and every so often, he delivered a killer pass, which would end with the ball in the back of the net.
He notched 19 goals and 41 assists in Guardiola’s first two years and was key to City reaching 100 points in the 2017-18 season – an English top-flight record – while winning the first of his six league titles.
However, his personal best tally came during the 2019-20 season, recording 38 G/A. Despite conceding the English crown to Liverpool, he managed to provide 20 assists, drawing level with Thierry Henry’s record-breaking tally set in 2002-03.
“He’s an amazing player, it’s just stupid what we are witnessing, and I hope people in football do realise that the boy is just not normal,” Henry declared at the time.
The turn of the decade saw many of City’s senior players like Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Fernandinho, and Sergio Aguero say goodbye to the club, leaving the Belgian to assume a greater leadership role.
He oversaw some of the brightest periods in the club’s history, including winning its maiden Champions League in the 2022-23 season to complete a historic treble, as well as becoming the first English team to win the league title four times in a row (2020-2024).
While injuries sidelined him for the first half of the 2023-24 season, his return provided City with a much-needed boost in the title race against Arsenal. Despite playing only 18 of the 38 games in the league, he registered 10 assists, which ended up being the third-highest that season.
It was during this time that De Bruyne overtook Cesc Fabregas to cement the second spot in the Premier League all-time assist list, with only Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs above him. He will also leave with the best assist per match ratio – 0.41 – among all-time best midfielders in the Premier League’s history.
While De Bruyne would have hoped for another trophy to add to the cabinet in his farewell season, it was not just meant to be. Once again, injuries reduced his minutes on the pitch and affected his form.
City’s horrendous run of games midway through the season allowed Liverpool to run away with the league title, while it was dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. It further fumbled in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace earlier this month, suffering a shock 0-1 defeat in what was most probably De Bruyne’s last chance at silverware with City.
However, all is not lost as the Belgian is set to don the light blue jersey for the final game of the league season against Fulham, with just one point needed to secure a UCL spot next season.
And, while it remains uncertain if he will feature in the revamped Club World Cup next month before choosing his next team, it is safe to say that De Bruyne’s place in the sport’s history has already been etched in gold.
On top of that, his indication that he still has gas left in the tank gives hope that he will stick around Europe for the near future. Additionally, with the FIFA World Cup set to take place in North America next year, he could be swayed to stay in the top leagues to stay fit and keep his quest for an international trophy with Belgium alive.
However, one thing is for certain: whatever his decision his, De Bruyne’s accomplishments with City surely warrant him a place amongst the best in the world, and wherever he goes, the booming chants of “Oooh Kevin De Bruyne” are sure to follow.
