The playmaker feels scorned by his club asking him to leave and he has every right to stay in England and make them live to regret their decision
When a footballer leaves the club that they have served for the majority of their career and where they have spent their best years, they have roughly three routes to take. The first is to do what Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher and Gerard Pique did, among many others, and retire from football altogether, ensuring that you never betray the fans who you built such a strong connection with.
The second and most common route is to continue playing but to move abroad, ideally to a league where you can take things easy and where you are unlikely to come up against your beloved club again. Steven Gerrard, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta followed this path, leaving as legends but still having a bit of an adventure at the end of their playing days having long passed their peak.
Then there is the third road, the least travelled and most controversial: move to one of your rivals, beating your former employers to a huge title and making them forever regret letting you go. Luis Figo and Sol Campbell are the most famous examples although both players made unilateral decisions to leave and burned their reputations with their ex-teams in the process. But what about those players who had no say in leaving their club and felt hugely aggrieved about effectively being kicked out, with little thanks for everything they had given them?
It is a conundrum that Kevin De Bruyne is currently weighing up in his mind as he considers his next move after being forced out of Manchester City. It was first thought that he would take the second option and see out his career comfortably in the MLS, with Inter Miami, San Diego FC and Chicago Fire all possible destinations. But there is a growing possibility of him remaining not just in Europe, but in the Premier League and coming back to haunt City.
Liverpool have reportedly already reached out to the Belgian to discuss a contract. And considering his recent talismanic performances, plenty of other clubs should be queuing up to try to convince him to extend his stay in the best league in the world…
Getty Cruyff & Suarez's precedents
Johan Cruyff felt a huge sense of anger when Ajax rejected his salary demands in 1983 and opted against offering him a new contract. He explained in his autobiography : "Ajax was still my team, but the people running it refused to go along with me. I heard they were saying I was too old and too fat and still putting on weight. I had to deal with all their objections. And they also demanded that I should be satisfied with a normal salary and of course, I wasn’t."
Cruyff got his revenge in the most spectacular fashion, by joining hated enemies Feyenoord and inspiring them to the Eredivisie title at the age of 37. Luis Suarez also felt betrayed when Barcelona told him they wanted him to leave in 2020, reducing him to tears. He joined Atletico Madrid, much to the horror of his former employers, who had forgotten to include Diego Simeone's side on a list of clubs he was not allowed to join as part of the terms of his exit.
Suarez proved to be the talisman as Atletico pipped Barca to the league title, scoring 21 times across the season including winners in the last two matches against Osasuna and Real Valladolid. And moments after clinching the title on the final day he had Barcelona's snub fairly on his mind when he said: "It was tough, the situation I had to live through, the way I was looked down on. But Atletico opened the door to me."
AdvertisementGetty Not an amicable departure
De Bruyne has been experiencing similar emotions to Cruyff and Suarez since his departure from City at the end of this season was confirmed. The Belgian's exit was far from a surprise given he was in the final months of his contract and had struggled with a hernia problem this season after tearing his hamstring twice in 2023.
And at first it sounded like an amicable departure when the Belgian released an emotional statement announcing he was leaving after 10 trophy-laden years and Pep Guardiola said he would "bet a lot of money" that the club would build a statue in his honour. But then it became clear that the feeling was not mutual after all.
First, Guardiola revealed that he and sporting director Txiki Begiristain had taken the decision and told De Bruyne he had to leave. The coach effectively said that De Bruyne was worn out physically and emotionally after the injuries. He said: "It was not easy for me to tell him he won’t continue. The last year and a half, he was out injured because he gave everything for the club. Everything he had in his body and his mind, he’s done it, so there’s no doubt about it."
Since then, De Bruyne has given many bluntly honest interviews in which he has explained how much he disagreed with the club's decision and how much it had upset him.
(C)Getty ImagesAiring his grievances
In his first media appearance since the announcement, after inspiring City to a 5-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace, he admitted he would consider offers from other Premier League clubs as he believed he was still good enough to play in England's top division. Then after the win at Everton he revealed how he really felt about being asked to leave City.
He said: "Obviously, I was a bit surprised but I have to accept it. Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level like I'm showing but I understand that clubs have to make decisions. It was half a week till I reported it out and it wasn't nice. I know I'm not 25 anymore, but I still feel like I can do my job."
He also seemed to suggest he had been one of the fall guys for the team's struggles in their worst season in nine years under Guardiola. "Maybe if the team didn't struggle and I came back like I did this year and bedded in like normal then maybe they would take another decision," he added. "I don't know – they told me what the decision was and I can't really say what they think on the inside. I don't feel like I want to share (the details) because it's basically more business-wise for them and they made a decision based on that. I still think that I'm in good shape, I've played way more than I did last year except the hernia. I feel good and the rhythm is coming. I have to accept the situation even though I feel like I can still do a good job but that's it."
De Bruyne continued to air his grievances with the club after scoring the only goal in their narrow win over Wolves last week, declaring: "A lot of team-mates have said that it's sad I have to go too but that's just how it goes sometimes in life." And Jeremy Doku backed his statement up by saying: "Obviously it’s very sad and I do think he still has the qualities to play here and he showed it again."
AFPBack to his best
De Bruyne's recent actions have spoken as loud as his words and Premier League clubs would be mad not to try and get him to join their ranks on a free transfer, even if it is just for two more seasons. Despite his injury problems and the fact he has played the 12th-highest number of minutes for City in the Premier League, De Bruyne is still the team's second-biggest goal contributor in the league behind Erling Haaland, with four goals and seven assists.
And while Guardiola cited De Bruyne's injury problems as the main reason he had to let him go, the player was right to point out that he is looking like his old self since overcoming the hernia issue which plagued him between September and December. He has been at the heart of City's run of four consecutive wins which has put them at the front of the race to finish in the top five and qualify for the Champions League.
The playmaker was at his very best in the win over Palace: scoring with a free-kick; setting up a goal for Mateo Kovacic; bothering the woodwork and propelling City forward at every turn. He was the highest-rated player in the crucial win over fellow top-five chasers Aston Villa and he then made the difference against Wolves, a game that was far from straightforward for Guardiola's side.