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The 33-year-old midfield maestro picked up 16 titles during his illustrious decade-long stint with the Mancunian side, including six PL crowns and a UEFA Champions League title. De Bruyne has managed to net 106 times for the Cityzens while also setting up 174 assists across…Read More
Pep Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne. (X)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne as one of the greatest players to grace the Premier League following the Belgian’s decision to leave Etihad at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old midfield maestro picked up 16 titles during his illustrious decade-long stint with the Mancunian side, including six PL crowns and a UEFA Champions League title. De Bruyne has managed to net 106 times for the Cityzens while also setting up 174 assists across competition for City since his arrival in 2015.
“One of the greatest midfielders ever to have played in this country, and I think with Manchester City, there is no doubt,” Guardiola began.
“One of the greatest, not The Greatest, always you have to be careful with players that played at Maine Road (City’s former stadium), incredible players in the last 20-30 years in this club too,” the Spaniard said.
“But come on, there’s no doubt he’s one of the greatest for sure because of his consistency in important games, the not important games, being there every three days all the time. There is no doubt,” he asserted.
Guardiola, who was aware of the midfielder’s decision to leave at the conclusion of the campaign before the official announcement opined that the Belgian deserved a statue in front of the stadium akin to Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany.
“I will bet a lot of money that it will happen,” Guardiola said.
“A sad day. A happy day for the fact that I had the pleasure personally to live with him. He gave all of us his humility and with his influence in our success in the last decade, that would have been impossible to imagine without him.”
City are slated to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup scheduled to be held between the 14th of June and the 13th of July. With De Bruyne’s contract running till the 30th of June, Guardiola left the decision to the player and the management.
“I don’t know. He has to decide. The Club World Cup is new with contracts,” the 54-year-old said.
“The club has to talk to him or he has to say what he wants to do,” he added.
“The first three games are under contract until June 30, but after that, if we go through, I don’t know. Hopefully, he can continue playing football in another place – it depends on the risk for the contracts and the future,” the Catalan head coach concluded.
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United Kingdom (UK)
