Kevin De Bruyne turns 33 today.
Nine years into his time at the Etihad, the Belgian midfielder is a true City legend.
One of the most decorated players in our history, De Bruyne has now won 18 major honours since arriving in Manchester in 2015.
Not just part of Pep Guardiola’s squad, our No.17 has consistently been the Premier League’s most creative force.
De Bruyne has played 382 times for the Club, with only 17 men ever representing City more.
He is also one of only 18 men to score at least 100 goals for the Club, reaching three figures during the win at Crystal Palace in April.
That comes second to his assists record, which stands at an incredible 162 so far in a City shirt.
To celebrate De Bruyne’s birthday, we’ll take a deep dive into the numbers that have established him as one of the greatest players ever to wear our shirt.
WATCH: 2023/24 season highlights: Kevin De Bruyne
Assists
When it comes to setting up team-mates, De Bruyne is far ahead of anyone else in the Premier League over the last nine seasons.
He has set up 111 goals in league football, which is 43 better than the next most creative man over that time – Mo Salah with 68.
88 of those have come from open play, 29 more than Salah.
He became the quickest player ever to 100 Premier League assists in April 2023, needing 237 matches and smashing the previous record of 293 set by Cesc Fabregas.
In fact, only Ryan Giggs now has more assists in Premier League history.
That creativity has earned him the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award on three occasions since its inception in 2017/18. He remains the only player to have won it more than once.
Overall, his 162 assists across all competitions is more than twice as many as any other City player since the start of the 2015/16 season.
In the last two seasons, De Bruyne has struck up an excellent relationship with Erling Haaland. He has set him up 19 times – almost twice as many as any other partnership has achieved in that time.
Chances created
When a goal is needed, it’s often De Bruyne that City’s stars turn to for inspiration.
Even with Pep Guardiola demanding his side have ultimate control of the ball, De Bruyne has license to play riskier passes that split defences open.
That attitude has seen him play a Premier League-high of 2,594 passes into the opposition box.
Having played 257 games in the league, that averages out at more than 10 per match.
In total, he has created an incredible 786 chances for his side – meaning he supplies more than three opportunities for City players every single game.
That is 278 more than anyone else over the same period, while the 562 chances he has created from open play is 140 more than anyone else.
Goals
De Bruyne’s 102 goals makes him the third highest scorer for City under Guardiola behind Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.
When you add his goals and assists together, De Bruyne has directly contributed to 61 more goals than any other City player.
Season by season
De Bruyne’s most productive league season in terms of goals and assists came in 2019/20 when he scored 13 times and produced a record-levelling 20 assists.
He has won the league six times, but it’s a quirk that his joint-second most prolific campaign also came in a year that we didn’t lift the title.
18 assists and six goals were scored in Guardiola’s first season while he matched the overall number the following year with 16 assists and eight goals.
He has accumulated at least 10 assists in every season other than 2018/19, when injuries restricted him to just 974 league minutes.
This latest campaign saw De Bruyne play just 1,227 minutes in the league – his second lowest total by a significant margin – but he still managed 10 assists as his return in the new year powered City a record fourth successive Premier League title.
Source Agencies
