As Kevin De Bruyne announces he will leave Manchester City at the end of this season, Opta Analyst‘s David Segar looks the midfielder’s impressive numbers during his decade at the club.
Defending is difficult enough at the best of times. However, since De Bruyne joined Manchester City in 2015, it has been almost impossible for Premier League defenders.
When lining up opposite the Belgian playmaker, opponents simply haven’t known where it’s safe to stand, because De Bruyne can find a pass to open them up from seemingly any angle and any distance.
You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from his opponents on Friday, though, when De Bruyne announced that this will be his final season at Man City.
“Every story comes to an end, but this has definitely been the best chapter,” he wrote on social media. “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.
“These people gave me everything. I had no choice but to give everything back. And guess what – we won everything.”
News De Bruyne to leave Man City at end of the season
It wasn’t entirely a surprise given the 33-year-old has played just 1,102 minutes in the Premier League this season, having only played fewer in 2018/19 (974 mins) due to various injury issues.
But De Bruyne’s legacy will never be forgotten, and like former Chelsea team-mate Mohamed Salah, he recovered from an underwhelming spell at Stamford Bridge to return to the Premier League and take it by storm.
After leaving Chelsea for Wolfsburg, De Bruyne thrived in Germany. He recorded the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues in the 2014/15 season (20) and led the Bundesliga for open-play chances created (74).
That saw City part with a reported £55million to sign the Belgian, and it may have been the best money the club has ever spent.
In 10 seasons at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne has won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five EFL Cups and a UEFA Champions League, and he could add another FA Cup to that before he goes.
He has done so while being at the centre of Pep Guardiola’s sky-blue machine, racking up records, creating many of the goals that have seen City dominate much of the last decade in England, and scoring a few, too.
See: Guardiola: De Bruyne is one of the greatest midfielders ever
De Bruyne is second behind only Ryan Giggs (162) in the all-time Premier League assists charts (118), with 117 of those coming for City (one for Chelsea).
Most Premier League assists
Player Assists Ryan Giggs 162 Kevin De Bruyne 118 Cesc Fabregas 111 Wayne Rooney 103 Frank Lampard 102 Despite that gap to Giggs, De Bruyne has the best minutes-per-assist ratio in the competition’s history (177) of players to make 50+ appearances, comfortably ahead of Dennis Bergkamp in second (236 mins per assist).
Giggs averaged an assist every 287 minutes. He also has the joint record for most assists in a Premier League season, recording a whopping 20 in the 2019/20 campaign. Only Thierry Henry (2002/03) has ever managed the same number of assists in a season.
De Bruyne assists 2019/20
Since he joined Man City in August 2015, De Bruyne has recorded at least 32 more assists in the Premier League than anyone else (117), created at least 294 more chances than any other player (827) and created at least 214 more open-play chances than anyone (593).
Most Premier League assists since 2015/16
Player Assists Kevin De Bruyne 117 Mohamed Salah 85 Son Heung-min 71 Christian Eriksen 67 Trent Alexander-Arnold 64 In fact, in that time, no player has assisted more goals or created more chances than him across Europe’s top five leagues. Similarly, since Opta records began in 2003/04, only Cesc Fabregas (846) has created more chances than De Bruyne’s 830 overall in the Premier League (three for Chelsea).
He could move top of that list before his time at City is out.
De Bruyne also has the fourth-most goal involvements in the competition since arriving at City (187), behind only Salah (267), Harry Kane (231) and Son Heung-min (198), which is quite impressive when you consider he’s only reached double figures for goals in two of his 10 league campaigns at City.
De Bruyne has not taken it easy on any opponent either, having either scored or assisted against 30 of the 33 Premier League clubs he’s faced while at City.
The team to have suffered the most by his hand (or feet) are Southampton, against whom he has 14 goal involvements (four goals, 10 assists) in 13 Premier League appearances.
He also has 12 goal involvements in the competition against Arsenal (eight goals, four assists) and Crystal Palace (4G 8A), and 11 against Newcastle United (3G 8A) and Liverpool (4G 7A).
Incredible numbers
As of Friday’s announcement, De Bruyne has made 413 appearances for City in all competitions, winning 281 matches, drawing 67 and losing 65.
He has scored 106 goals and provided 169 assists. An impressive 41 of his goals have been from outside the box, while seven have been from direct free-kicks.
De Bruyne assists all competitions
He has created a mammoth 1,140 chances for team-mates and taken 941 shots at goal himself.
Breaking those down into competitions, he has 70 Premier League goals to go with his 117 assists for City in 277 appearances; 16 Champions League goals and 25 assists in 72 matches; 10 goals and 18 assists in 32 FA Cup appearances; 10 goals and seven assists in 26 EFL Cup matches; and an assist in both a FA Community Shield and a Champions League qualifier.
His total of 277 Premier League appearances is the second-most in the competition for City, behind only David Silva (309), though De Bruyne is 24 Premier League assists ahead of the Spaniard (93) for the club.
Only Sergio Aguero (184), Raheem Sterling (91) and Erling Haaland (84) have scored more Premier League goals for City than De Bruyne’s 70.
De Bruyne’s Man City PL goals and assists
While his partnership with Haaland will be one abiding memory of his time in Manchester, the man he provided the most assists for in a City shirt was Aguero (19), though he can of course still add to the 13 he has put on for Haaland if the Norwegian recovers from injury before De Bruyne’s exit.
With eight matches to go in the league and an FA Cup semi-final and potential final to look forward to, it would be nice to see more appearances for a bona fide City legend before the end of his final campaign, potentially starting with Sunday’s derby clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Guardiola reflected on it being “a sad day but a happy day for the fact that I had the pleasure personally to live this time with him,” following the player’s announcement.
The Premier League will miss De Bruyne, even if opposition defences won’t.
