Best City Player Ever? Breakdown Of Kevin De Bruyne Stats – Premier League Records
Since De Bruyne joined City in 2015 he has the most Premier League assists (117), chances created (827) and big chances created (193).
He has the second-most assists in Premier League history, behind only Ryan Giggs (162).
Has the joint most Premier League Player of the Season awards with two – in 2019-20 and 2021-22 – alongside Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nemanja Vidic. Surprisingly, he has never won a Player of the Month award though.
Level with Henry for the most assists in a single Premier League season, producing 20 in the 2019-20 campaign.
Has won the most Premier League Playmaker awards, given to the player with the most assists, winning it three times (2017-18, 2019-20 and 2022-23).
Has also won four Manchester City Player of the Season awards, has been in the Champions League Team of the Season twice and finished third in the Ballon d’Or in 2022.
When any conversation takes place, whether it is now or in the future, about the greatest players to grace the Premier League, Kevin de Bruyne will justifiably be part of it.
The heartbeat of one of the finest teams in the history of British football, De Bruyne was a creator supreme, a scorer of goals, a controller and dictator of games at the very highest level.
The Premier League has been fortunate to have him and we have been fortunate to watch him.
The word “great” is bandied around too easily – but it fits De Bruyne perfectly.
One stand-out personal memory was De Bruyne’s performance when Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League semi-final second leg at Etihad Stadium in May 2023.
City’s first 45 minutes, in which they established a 2-0 lead, remains one of the finest halves of football I have ever witnessed – they delivered quality of the highest level, executed at a searing pace that bewildered Real Madrid.
At the heart of it all was De Bruyne, the great orchestrator of a magnificent team display.
READ ALSO: End Of An Era – De Bruyne Leaves Manchester City
If there is a sadness about De Bruyne’s City career, it is that he was injured during both of their Champions League final appearances, suffering a serious facial injury following a collision with Antonio Rudiger in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in 2021, then sustaining a hamstring injury in the victory against Inter Milan two years later.
Kevin de Bruyne was linked with Saudi Arabia last summer, and although he told me earlier in the season he personally had not held any talks, that could be an option.
He’s got bags of talent, and although the injury concerns in recent seasons could be an issue for top clubs, he is still an elite-level player, so could really end up anywhere.
