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Some players come and go. Kevin De Bruyne stayed. And in staying, he changed everything.
Since 2015, he’s been the soul of Manchester City’s midfield — the quiet force behind the trophies, the passes that took your breath away, the goals that felt inevitable the moment he looked up.
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You don’t really describe De Bruyne. You watch him. You feel him. The weight of a pass curled around four defenders. The sudden surge into space. The moments where he saw something no one else in the stadium did — and delivered it with ease.
You could argue that there’s never been anyone quite like him at City. And there probably won’t be again.
So when he announced last Friday that this would be his final season at the club, it was quite emotional even though with recent injuries and dip, it was expected.
“Every story comes to an end,” he wrote. “But this has definitely been the best chapter… 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.”
It’s hard to imagine Manchester City without him. Harder still to picture someone else doing what he did — not just the brilliance, but the consistency of it. Season after season, when everything else changed, De Bruyne remained the constant. The heartbeat. The standard.
Now, there’s just one question — Will Manchester City ever see another Kevin De Bruyne?
It’s easy to say yes. City’s recruitment is elite. They lost David Silva and adapted. Yaya Touré moved on and the midfield evolved. That’s what City do — they plan, they replace, they move forward.
But De Bruyne isn’t just another name on the list. You can’t plan for someone like him.
Replacing Kevin De Bruyne? Maybe not impossible. But it won’t feel the same. And it probably won’t look the same either.
Let’s start with the numbers. Since joining from Wolfsburg in 2015, Kevin De Bruyne has racked up 118 English Premier League assists, putting him second on the all-time list, just behind Ryan Giggs. The kicker? He’s done it in far fewer appearances. At his peak, he was putting up an assist every 189 minutes.
But stats only tell part of the story. It’s not just the end product with De Bruyne — it’s the way he affects a game. When things start getting tight, watch him. He demands the ball. He calls for it, even when it’s not obvious. He moves in a way that pulls defenders out of position, not with speed, but with presence. And there’s a leadership in that — not loud or in-your-face, but you feel it.
As Pep Guardiola once said: “When Kevin plays, we play differently. He sees things others don’t. He smells the space.”
That last bit — he smells the space — sums it up. You can’t coach that. It’s instinct, pure and simple. And De Bruyne has built a career on it.
? Kevin De Bruyne joined Man City in 2015.
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413 appearances, 6 PL titles, 106 goals, 174 assists, 2 Premier League Player of the Season awards and one treble later he's announced he's leaving.
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According to ESPN’s Global Sports Research, over the last decade, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has created more chances (827) than De Bruyne.
City could scout the globe for talent, but who’s really going to replicate that?
De Bruyne isn’t just a player for City; he’s become a symbol of what they’ve become. His peak has coincided with the club’s rise — five Premier League titles, one Champions League trophy.
In a past interview with The Athletic, De Bruyne said he’s “not afraid of what comes after.” There’s a calm acceptance in his words — he knows his time is coming to an end.
That’s where City’s real challenge lies: what happens when he’s gone? Can you ever prepare for the departure of someone who’s been at the heart of everything for so long?
Great teams lose players. What matters is how they evolve.
When De Bruyne leaves, there has to be a successor.
But let’s be honest: even then, they won’t be Kevin De Bruyne. Players like him don’t come around often.
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