Cliff Notes – Why Man City are making the right call to Kevin De Bruyne go
- Kevin De Bruyne’s declining fitness and performance levels have raised concerns, with 40 missed games due to injuries since June 2023.
- Despite his past contributions, Manchester City prioritises future potential, leading to the decision to part ways with the 34-year-old midfielder.
Why Man City are making the right call to Kevin De Bruyne go
Kevin De Bruyne is leaving Manchester City and isn’t happy about it, but one of the greatest midfielders of the Premier League era is simply the latest player to discover that football is a ruthless business in which yesterday counts for nothing. Trent Alexander-Arnold has displayed that ruthlessness in reverse by rejecting Liverpool’s offer of a lucrative new contract to leave the club he joined at six years old as a free agent, but as a player in his prime, the 26-year-old was in a powerful position to choose between staying at Anfield or, as seems increasingly likely, embark on a new adventure in Spain with Real Madrid.
For De Bruyne, though, it is a different story.
The Belgium international has helped City win six Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups and five EFL Cups during his time at the club and registered 108 goals and 177 assists in 418 appearances since arriving in summer 2015. However, he turns 34 at the end of June, and City have decided that his future looks nothing like as impressive as his past.
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“Obviously, I was a bit surprised, but I just have to accept it,” De Bruyne said last month when he announced that he would be leaving City at the expiration of his contract this summer. “I have not had any offer the whole year, they just took a decision.”
Despite becoming arguably City’s greatest player since completing a £55 million transfer from VfL Wolfsburg, the club’s hierarchy — including director of football Txiki Begiristain, chief executive Ferran Soriano and manager Pep Guardiola — have reached the conclusion that De Bruyne’s time is up and he now has no choice but to head for the exit door at the Etihad.
“A lot of teammates have said that it’s sad I have to go, but that’s just how it goes sometimes in life,” De Bruyne said after scoring the only goal of the game in City’s 1-0 Premier League win against Wolves last Friday. “I don’t know what the future will be.
“Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level like I’m showing, but I understand clubs have to make decisions.”
It’s unusual for players to be as vocal as De Bruyne has been about his rejection by City, especially from such a high-profile figure. When Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole were released by Chelsea at their end of their contracts in 2014, both left Stamford Bridge on a positive note, accepting that the time was right to move. John Terry voiced similar sentiments when he left Chelsea three years later. In contrast, De Bruyne, who has been linked with a move to Major League Soccer with Chicago Fire after Inter Miami reportedly relinquished their discovery rights, clearly feels he has unfinished business as a City player, and that the opportunity to complete it has been taken away from him.
However, few clubs have mastered the art of timing the exit of their great players as well as City. David Silva (to Real Sociedad), Vincent Kompany (Anderlecht player-manager), and Sergio Aguero (Barcelona) all left the Etihad upon the expiry of their contracts, and none came close to even matching, let alone surpassing, their City feats elsewhere.
De Bruyne, right, has been a sterling and elite performer since arriving at Man City in 2015, but declines in recent seasons mean the club is moving on. James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
De Bruyne might argue that his performances in recent weeks show that he still has plenty to give, but clubs like City make contract decisions based on what a player can do in 12 to 24 months’ time, and they do it with evidence garnered from training performances, fitness data and injury recovery time as well as what happens on the pitch for the first team. De Bruyne’s recent track record will have set alarm bells ringing within the City recruitment because, with the player approaching his mid-30s, his numbers hint that his decline has already begun.
Since limping out of the Champions League final win against Inter Milan in Istanbul in June 2023 with a hamstring injury, De Bruyne has missed 40 games of a possible 109 for City due to fitness issues — 34 of those due to hamstring problems. He has started just 17 of City’s 35 Premier League games this season, featuring as a substitute for eight of them. Five consecutive starts is De Bruyne’s longest unbroken sequence in the Premier League, and with four goals, he’s on course for his lowest return since scoring just twice during an injury-affected season in 2018-19.
While De Bruyne has been City’s player for the big occasion in the past, scoring decisive goals against title rivals and Champions League heavyweights, this season’s goals have been scored against Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Leyton Orient and Plymouth.
City manager Guardiola has been diplomatic when asked about the decision to release De Bruyne, referencing his past achievements and contribution, saying it will be “almost impossible” to replace him. “He has been an incredible player, but the situation is what it is,” Guardiola said after De Bruyne’s match-winning goal against Wolves last week.
It is Guardiola’s last comment that likely cuts to the bone: “The situation is what it is.”
When a player has served his purpose and the signs of decline creep through, even the best have to move on. De Bruyne is hurting right now, but he only has to look at his numbers to realize that City aren’t wrong.