Country: Belgium
Club: Manchester City
Position: Attacking Midfield
Age: 31
De Bruyne is frequently referred to as a “complete” footballer and is regarded as one of the top players in the world.
He plays mostly as a center or attacking midfielder but can also play a variety of other positions, including winger and second striker. The media as a highly talented and flexible player.
When Genk won the Belgian Pro League in 2010–11, De Bruyne was a regular player there when his career began. He signed on with English club Chelsea in 2012, where he saw limited action before being loaned out to Werder Bremen. He spent the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal season with Wolfsburg after signing a £18 million contract there, where he made a name for himself as one of the finest players in the Bundesliga. De Bruyne joined Manchester City in the summer of 2015 for a club-record £54 million. Since then, he has helped the team win an FA Cup, five League Cups, and four Premier League championships.
De Bruyne made his full international debut in 2010, and since then, he has played for Belgium on more than 90 occasions and scored 25 goals. He was a part of the Belgian teams who advanced to the quarterfinals of both the UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He played for Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when Belgium defeated England in the third-place play-off. He was also selected for the FIFA World Cup Dream Team.
Five times, the IFFHS Men’s World Team, four times, the UEFA Team of the Year, three times, the ESM Team of the Year, the France Football World XI, and once in the Bundesliga Team of the Year have all been among De Bruyne’s honors. He has also been named to the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season five times. In addition, he has won the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season, the Bundesliga Player of the Year, the Footballer of the Year (Germany), the Belgian Sportsman of the Year, and the IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker twice. He has also won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season twice, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year twice, Manchester City’s Player of the Year four times, and the PFA Players’ Player of the Year twice.
De Bruyne’s fourth goal in as many minutes helped City defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-1 in May 2022, giving him his first hat trick with the team and the third fastest in Premier League history.
De Bruyne received the Premier League Player of the Season accolade once more, making him the fourth individual to do so.
He later went on to earn his fourth Player of the Year victory for Manchester City. He shared the club record for most player of the year honors with Richard Dunne therefore.
Style of play
His positional sense, tactical acumen, movement, direct style of play, and ability to run at defenses when in possession also enable him to take advantage of spaces in the opposition’s defense and subsequently create chances and goalscoring opportunities for himself or his teammates, making him a quick and elegant player on the ball with good dribbling skills.
Despite lacking significant physical strength, pace, or ability in the air, he is a quick and elegant player on the ball with good dribbling skills. He is a skilled set-piece taker in addition to his creative skills, and he can score goals by making late runs off the ball from behind into the penalty area.
