Kevin De Bruyne was hailed by Pep Guardiola as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats after the Belgian confirmed on Friday he will leave Manchester City at the end of the season.
De Bruyne will be the final player to leave City who was in the first-team squad before Guardiola’s arrival. City signed him for €55m from Wolfsburg in 2015 and he has been an integral part of their success, winning six Premier League titles and helping the club lift the Champions League for the first time.
The 33-year-old released a statement on Friday to announce his departure. “Whether we like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye,” De Bruyne wrote. “Every story comes to an end but this has definitely been the best chapter.”
Guardiola paid lavish tribute to De Bruyne before City’s game at Manchester United on Sunday. “You always have to be careful, have respect for the players who play main roles, and incredible players that play for the last, I don’t know, 20, 30 years in this club,” the manager said.
“But come on, there’s no doubt he’s one of the greatest, for sure. Because of his consistency – except the last year, year and a half, that he had injury problems – in important games and not important games, and every three days being there.”
De Bruyne has struggled physically in recent times and been unable to secure a regular starting position, and Guardiola has admitted he needs players who can cope with the rigours of playing twice a week at high intensity. De Bruyne said last June he could be open to a move to Saudi Arabia because of the “incredible money” but his next destination is yet to be decided.
“Our success in the last decade, that would be impossible without him,” said Guardiola, who expects the club to mark De Bruyne’s contribution with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium, joining those of Vincent Kompany, Sergio Agüero and David Silva. “I will bet a lot of money that it’s going to happen,” he said.
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De Bruyne’s contract will expire during the Club World Cup, which will be held from 14 June to 13 July in the United States. There is an option for him to sign a deal that would cover that tournament. “He has to decide, he has to talk, because now with the [Club] World Cup, it’s a new contract, legally,” Guardiola said. “Hopefully he can continue playing football in another place, and it depends on the risk, playing there, for the contracts or injuries.”
Unless De Bruyne goes to the Club World Cup his final chance of a winner’s medal will be in the FA Cup, with City facing Nottingham Forest in the semi-final on Sunday 27 April.
In his farewell post, De Bruyne wrote “Nothing about this is easy to write, but as football players, we all know this day eventually comes. That day is here – and you deserve to hear it from me first,” De Bruyne said in a post on social media.
“Football led me to all of you – and to this city. Chasing my dream, not knowing this period would change my life. This City. This club. These people… gave me EVERYTHING. I had no choice but to give EVERYTHING back! And guess what – we won everything.”
De Bruyne has been instrumental in City’s rise to become the dominant force in English football.
He was twice crowned players’ player of the year in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
The Belgium captain sits second in the Premier League’s all-time standings for assists on 118 and has scored 106 goals in 413 appearances for City.
