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Kevin De Bruyne bid an emotional farewell to the Etihad Stadium after making his final home appearance for Manchester City on Tuesday.
De Bruyne will leave City at the end of the season and was given a guard of honour by his teammates after helping City to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth that put them on the brink of Champions League qualification.
The Belgium international, who has won 14 major trophies in a decorated 10-year spell with City, was played a video featuring tributes from a host of former City colleagues and his wife and three children, who joined him on the pitch to say goodbye to the fans at the Etihad.
Addressing the crowd, De Bruyne reflected on the legacy he leaves while explaining what the club and city mean to him and his family.
“Manchester is home, Manchester is where these little kids were born,” he said. “I came here with my wife, Michelle, to stay for a long time, didn’t expect to be here 10 years. To do what we’ve done as a club, supporters, teammates we’ve won everything. We made the city, the club bigger and now they’re going to take over.
“I wanted to play with creativity, I wanted to play with passion. I wanted to enjoy football and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Everybody has pushed me so hard inside and outside the club to be the best version of myself and these guys, everybody we see on the screen and these guys in front of me have made me better than I was before. It’s an honour to play with these guys. I’ve made so many friends for life. We’ll be back for sure soon.
Tributes to King Kev 🩵 pic.twitter.com/j3GYdsLXiA
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 20, 2025
“This team tries to entertain people and win. This team works incredibly hard everybody behind the scenes and on the pitch. This team will win in the future, with or without me, and everybody in the city, the supporters, will be behind the team like they’ve done with me for the last 10 years. This team will have success that’s for sure.
“You just want to do well and win and then when you win you want to win more. You want to push the city and we’ve had five/six parades and that’s been incredible to witness everything that goes around in the city. All the moments with these teammates there’s been too many to count. It’s been a pleasure.”
On the fans, who serenaded De Bruyne with chants of his name throughout the evening, De Bruyne added: “They’ve been so welcoming from the beginning. To have almost a full stadium supporting my family and me says everything. Who can have 50,00 people waiting for you to say goodbye? It’s indescribable and thank you very much.”
Earlier in the day a mosaic of De Bruyne was unveiled at the City Football Academy, but it was revealed that a statue of De Bruyne will also be built as a tribute to the indelible mark he has left.
We will honour @KevinDeBruyne’s incredible decade of service to the Club by commissioning a special statue celebrating the midfielder’s magnificent Etihad career 👑
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 20, 2025
“It means I will always be part of this club,” De Bruyne said of that honour.
“I always represent a small piece of that and whenever I come back with these guys and with family and friends I will be able to see myself standing around the stadium. I will always be here.
“I think the best way to describe my life with my wife and my three kids is we’ve fit in perfectly. We understand where the club has come to and why the club means a lot to a lot of people.
“Together we’ve built a big future for you guys, for the club to perform the way this club will perform. I know this has been a bit of a tough year for us but I think the team deserves all the support from you guys.
“I know they’re pushing really hard and this team will be back next year pushing for all the titles, so they deserve this.
“I think after 10 years it was about time somebody let me talk a bit and it’s time to say goodbye. I will be back but we love you and see you soon.”
