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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne has announced he will leave Manchester City - bringing an end to a trophy-laden decade with the club.
The 33-year-old Belgian playmaker is out of contract this summer and in an emotional post on his social media channels on Friday confirmed he is in his “final months” with the Premier League champion.
“Nothing about this is easy to write, but as football players, we all know this day eventually comes. That day is here,” he wrote.
De Bruyne will go down as one of the all-time Premier League greats after helping City win 16 major trophies during a period of unprecedented dominance.
Since joining from Wolfsburg for around $71 million in 2015 he has gone on to win every major club honor, including the Champions League.
“This city. This club. These people... gave me EVERYTHING. I had no choice but to give EVERYTHING back! And guess what — we won EVERYTHING,” he wrote. “Whether we like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye.”
City manager Pep Guardiola described it as a “sad day” following De Bruyne's announcement.
“In the Premier League he is one of the greatest midfielders ever to play in this country and I think in this club (there) is no doubt,” Guardiola said. “His assists, his goals, his vision in the final third, that is so difficult to replace.”
With 118 assists in the league, De Bruyne is second only to Manchester United great Ryan Giggs, who provided 162, on the all-time list.
He reached that total in 280 appearances, as opposed to 632 for Giggs. He has played 413 matches for City in all competitions, scored 106 goals and was twice named PFA Player of the Year in England.
While De Bruyne will go down as one of the finest players to play for City, he could have instead spent the bulk of his career at Chelsea after joining club from Belgian team Genk in 2012. But he grew frustrated after making only two league starts and eventually moved to Wolfsburg in Germany in 2014.
There he revitalized his career and convinced City to make him the club’s record signing.
De Bruyne did not say if he would take part in the Club World Cup, which runs through June and July in the United States.
“He has to decide, it’s a new competition. I hope he can continue to play football in another place, but it depends on risk and contracts for the future," Guardiola said. “I don’t know. The club has to talk to him, and he has to say what he wants to do.” ___ James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
