By Simon Wilkes
Kevin De Bruyne says it has been “an absolute pleasure” to represent Manchester City for the last decade, during which time he has won 13 trophies with the club.
The Belgium playmaker moved to the blue side of Manchester in a £55 million deal from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015 and has had a glittering career since.
De Bruyne has played a pivotal role in the club’s dominance of the Premier League, scoring 108 goals and bagging 170 assists in 420 appearances.
Dethroned by Liverpool
Pep Guardiola’s defending champions have been dethroned by Arne Slot’s Liverpool this season, while Man City also lost to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final last weekend.
However, they got their bid to secure a Champions League place back on track with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
The club then paid tribute to the departing De Bruyne after the match, with current and former players singing his praises on a video screen as he watched on with his family.
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Final-day trip to Fulham
The 33-year-old will leave Man City at the end of the season, with Guardiola’s men currently sitting in third place on the Premier League table with 68 points ahead of a final-day trip to face Fulham.
Seventh-placed Nottingham Forest are only three points behind City on 65, with Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Aston Villa all having banked 66 points.
De Bruyne reflected on his trophy-laden spell with the club after the Bournemouth match, telling fans in an on-pitch interview screened by Sky Sports: “Manchester is home, Manchester is where these little kids are born.
“I came here with my wife to stay for a long time, I didn’t expect to be here for 10 years.
“We’ve won everything, we made the club bigger, and now they [teammates] are going to take over. This team will have more success, that’s for sure.
“I know it’s been a bit of a tough year for us but I think this team deserves all the support from you guys.
“I know they are pushing really hard and this team will be back next year fighting for all the titles.”
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An unbelievable ride
He added: “It’s been unbelievable to have the 10 years that I’ve had over here. It’s been an unbelievable ride, an absolute pleasure.
“I wanted to bring joy to people, play offensive football, creative – that is why I am on the pitch and I want to have fun. I think we had a lot of fun over the 10 years.
“It was a joy working really hard and creating something which brought the club much better than it was before. I’m super proud.”
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Tough opponent
Guardiola knows his team face a tough task at Craven Cottage this weekend, saying: “On Sunday we have a tough opponent [Fulham]. We go there to win to take the point we need to be next season in the Champions League.
“The most important thing was to win the game [against Bournemouth] and we did it against an incredible opponent. They destroyed us in the Premier League in the first leg.
“The games are always good: we had chances, they had chances, it was open and the people enjoyed it.”
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