Kevin De Bruyne.

A newsletter about the greatest creative midfielder in Premier League history.

Kevin De Bruyne will leave Manchester City at the end of the season as his contract comes to an end. He has been a Premier League player for 10 years with Manchester City, and he arrived with massive amounts of doubt from the media about his chance of success in the league after his Chelsea spell. Despite this media criticism early on, and despite being plagued by injuries throughout his career, he has become (in my opinion) the greatest creative midfielder in the history of the Premier League.

To illustrate my incredibly high opinion of De Bruyne, I could just list out his stats and accolades. I could tell you that he has 118 Premier League assists (the most of a midfielder in Premier League history). I could tell you that he has been the Premier League Player of the Season twice, which has never been repeated by a midfielder. I could tell you that in his decade at the Etihad, De Bruyne has won 6 Premier Leagues, 2 FA Cups, 5 League Cups and a UEFA Champions League. I could list dozens more stats if I decided to. But that isn’t how football works. You can’t assess the package that is a player by simply reading numbers. You have to look at their the player with your own eyes, as well as reading stats, and use that to understand how they compare to other players.

And to be clear, I am not calling Kevin De Bruyne the greatest midfielder in Premier League history; it’s impossible to compare the role of a defensive midfielder to that of an attacking midfielder. Some midfielders are better goalscorers than De Bruyne, and many are significantly better defensively. But, for me, nobody creates goals like Kevin.

Pure Football Intelligence.

Kevin De Bruyne sees things that other players don’t. He rips open defences with crosses, passes and long balls that most other midfielders wouldn’t be able to dream of playing. With 10 players in front of him in a low block, he plays a pass that no defender in history would be able to predict, nevermind intercept. Need examples? This assist for Bernardo Silva is a start. Let’s look at the first frame.

In this situation, as a birds-eye observer, what seems the obvious passing option? Foden and Cancelo are free options on his left, and Rodri is free on the right, as well as Walker, who is making a run down the right flank. Haaland could also be an option in the middle if Kevin wants to be more direct. A pass to Walker would have been tricky, but considering that he is making a run, it seems the natural option for a midfielder looking to open the Newcastle defence.

Did the name Bernardo Silva come up in that last paragraph? No, because he seems an impossible option, being surrounded by defenders and with no direct passing lane through which De Bruyne could play the ball. Let’s look at the last frame again, followed by the next 2 frames.

Angle as De Bruyne makes the pass

Angle as the ball passes through the helpless Newcastle midfield

The ball reaches Silva, who goes on to score.

De Bruyne ignored all of the obvious options and played the ball through an entire midfield and entire defensive line to a player who was being marked by 2 defenders. Making passes like that, again and again, for 10 years straight, is a feat only accomplished by one man. His name? Kevin De Bruyne.

Need more examples of incredible assists and goals created? If I began to list them one by one, I would be here for weeks. I’m sure you’ve seen most of them before, but there are endless highlight reels on YouTube compiling these passes and assists. The sheer quantity of his quality assists means that even as a City fan, I’d forgotten some of them.

He’s an “Everywhere Midfielder”.

Kevin De Bruyne never seems confined to one area of the football pitch. He moves to any area of the field that he desires. From popping up centrally to finding himself on the flanks, Kevin is not limited to performing in any set area of the pitch. He can and has crossed the ball into the box from either wing on either foot on countless occasions, and I don’t need to reiterate his central ability. He’s even operated as a kind of second striker in some games, even when a primary striker isn’t on the pitch.

Not only that, but he’s an “everyone midfielder”, meaning that no matter who he plays with, he performs, and any player who has played across generations has to be able to adapt to the team around him. Whether the front line ahead of him was Sterling-Aguero-Sane, Sterling-Jesus-Mahrez, Foden-Alvarez-Mahrez, or Grealish-Haaland-Bernardo, Kevin De Bruyne provided. And of course, he chipped in with incredible goals himself regularly. His goal catalogue is unbelievable. But this newsletter isn’t about his goalscoring, it’s about his unprecedented creativity.

Big Moments

Kevin De Bruyne has become a fan favourite among City fans, especially in the last 5 years, and in part, that is to do with his big game moments. He provides goals and assists at Anfield. He provides them in the Champions League at the Bernabeu. He brings the thunder on derby day. And he led the comeback from 2-0 down on the final game of the season to 3-2 up to snatch the league title by a point. That was, of course, in the 2021-22 season, to round off one of the best, if not the best, season of De Bruyne’s career, when he provided the assist to Gundogan to complete a final day of the season comeback against Villa to win the league title. Is there a bigger moment than that?

Whether it’s long-range through balls, intricate passes through midfield and defensive lines, free kicks, volleys, incredible runs, unbelievable link-up play, long range shots, crosses from either wing on either foot, or balls into the box over the top of entire teams, Kevin De Bruyne is the master of all things midfield, especially when it comes to his creative ability. As a player, he is one of the best in Premier League history, as a midfielder, he is one of the best in Premier League history, and as a creative midfielder, he is the best in Premier League history. That’s my opinion, at least.

Now that Kevin’s Premier League spell is soon to come to an end, I have one question for you. Where do you think the Belgian King ranks among the best creative midfielders in football history? Thanks as always for reading, and let me know in the comments.