Alan Shearer has paid tribute to Kevin De Bruyne, branding the Manchester City star a “centre-forward’s dream” and revealing that he wishes he could have played with him. De Bruyne is set to leave City when his contract expires this summer after enjoying 10 years at the Etihad.
During that time, the Belgian playmaker has scoring 107 goals and providing 177 assists as he helped City win six Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups and five League Cups.
Despite struggling with injuries in recent years, De Bruyne provided a timely reminder of his quality as he starred in City’s 5-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace on Saturday. The 33-year-old scored a pinpoint free-kick and notched an assist as City moved back into the top four.
And Shearer was full of praise for De Bruyne on BBC Match of the Day, stating: “There’s no doubt about it, he’s been a Premier League giant. If there’s one player I wish I could have played with in the same team, it would have been him. A centre-forward’s dream.”
City boss Pep Guardiola also hailed De Bruyne after the game, describing him as a “unique” talent. Guardiola said: “The performance was what Kevin has done for many, many years and many, many games.
“Unfortunately lately he could not operate at that level because of the problem that he had, he was injured for one-long year because of surgery and so on. He played fantastic and helped us to break this momentum that was not good.
“I said a few press conferences before, be grateful. The gratitude I have, we have, is huge. He has done incredibly and I know that he can deliver, will deliver and he’s happy because he is helping us.
“He fought a lot against [Manchester] United. He was brilliant with the ball and today he was so clever. The goal and assist, and he helped us a lot to win the game. Kevin is not a vocal leader. He is a leader in that every day for nine years, except the last year and a half, being there helping the team.
“And his talent is unique, everyone knows it – he has the vision and the pass. When players are up front and Kevin has the ball, and he feels like this, they know they can run because the ball can be delivered.
“The problem is when you make a run and the player doesn’t have this talent. Kevin is the player in the history of the club with the most titles and that defines what Kevin has done with us.”
De Bruyne, meanwhile, is focused on helping City qualify for next season’s Champions League. “I want to go away with a Champions League for this team because they deserve it,” he said.
“We’ve been in the Champions League for the nine, ten years that I’ve been here so I hope we can do that for the team next year and I’ll just try to play good football like I’ve always done. After this Man City chapter I want to play on, so we’ll see where I can end up.”
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