De Bruyne- A Mannchester City Legend In Making
The Belgian footballer started playing at a very young age of 6 at his hometown club KVV Drongen in 1997. His Senior career started in 2008 with the domestic club, Genk. De Bruyne scored 16 goals in 96 appearances for the club. Impressed with his playing style Chelsea bought him in 2012 with the fee rumored to be in the region of £7 million.
De Bruyne only played 3 games with Chelsea and was never given a chance to prove himself.6 months later he was sent on loan to Werder Bremen in Germany. He came back to Chelsea after finishing the season with the German side in 2013 as Jose Mourinho wanted him in his future projects. As the season progressed, De Bruyne got less game time in the first team and was therefore sold.
Kevin De Bruyne left Chelsea in 2014 For Wolfsburg and the rest is history. The Belgian played only one complete season and ended up scoring 10 goals and providing 19 assists, setting a new Bundesliga record, as Wolfsburg finished second and qualified for the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League. De Bruyne won the 2015 DFB Pokal with the team, beating Dortmund by 3-1 in the final.
With 16 goals and 25 assists in all competitions, the attacking midfielder was named 2015 Footballer of the Year in Germany. Then Man City gaffer Manuel Pellegrini brought De Bruyne back to England in August 2015 for a reported club-record fee of £55 million (€75 million), making him the second most expensive transfer in British football history after Ángel Di María’s move to Manchester United in 2014.
De Bruyne grew a lot technically in Germany. His through passes were beautifully accurate. The curve he got while passing was not even imaginable. At the first touch, the ball control was second to none. He made some exceptional runs and scored important goals for the club.
He brought all these qualities to City. Just after 3 months Into the club, he was on the 23-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.[In 2016 Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City. De Bruyne became the heart of the team. He scored goals, got assists, defended for the team. He played in all the attacking roles for the club. In 2017-2018 season, Manchester City won the Premier League with a record of 100 points and De Bruyne with 16 assists in the league season won the inaugural Premier League Playmaker of the Season award. He was also selected in the PFA Team of the Year and was also voted as Manchester City Player of the Season
In the next Season, De Bruyne was injured for most of the season but City managed to win the Premier League again. In 2019-2020 De Bruyne was back on the side with even more fire. He became the first player in history to reach 20 assists in a single season in two of Europe’s top five leagues. Though City lost the title to Liverpool, De Bruyne was awarded the Premier League Player of the Season for scoring 13 goals, providing 20 assists, and creating 104 chances from open play, the most for a player in any of Europe’s top five leagues since 2006. He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year and won the PFA Player of the Year award, becoming the first-ever Manchester City player to win it.
Currently, Manchester City is sitting in the 1st position in the Premier League table with 74 points and 11 points clear of the 2nd team Manchester United. The city is almost guaranteed to win Premier League again, which makes it 3 out of 4 seasons for Pep Guardiola and City. The European dream is also very close to happening as Manchester City has reached the Semi-Finals for the 2nd time in their history and 1st time under Pep Guardiola. De Bruyne has played a very crucial part in City’s success and will be remembered for the years to come.