Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne (born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains both club Manchester City and the Belgium national team.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, as well as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Pundits have described him as a complete footballer.

De Bruyne began his career with hometown club KVV Drongen in 1997.

Two years later, he joined Gent and moved to Genk in 2005.

De Bruyne continued his development in their youth set-up and was rewarded for his progress by being promoted to the first team squad in 2008.

From an Interview with his youth club, it was revealed that De Bruyne was a Liverpool fan and admirer of Michael Owen.

De Bruyne made his first team debut for Genk in a 3–0 defeat at Charleroi on 9 May 2009.

De Bruyne began his professional senior career at Genk, where he was a regular player when they won the 2010–11 Belgian Pro League.

De Bruyne made his full international debut in 2010, and he has since earned over 90 caps, scoring 26 goals for Belgium.

Having established himself in the team the following season, on 7 February 2010, De Bruyne scored his first goal for the club, which secured all three points for Genk in a 1–0 win against Standard Liège.

He scored five goals and made 16 assists in 32 league matches during the 2010–11 season as Genk were crowned Belgian champions for the third time.

On 29 October 2011, De Bruyne scored his first hat-trick for Genk against Club Brugge, which ended in a 5–4 win for Genk.

He signed a five-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge, but would stay at Genk for the remainder of the 2011–12 season.

De Bruyne told the club website, "To come to a team like Chelsea is a dream but now I have to work hard to achieve the level that's necessary."

In 2012, he joined English club Chelsea, where he was used sparsingly and then loaned to Werder Bremen.

On 28 January 2012, De Bruyne scored a brace against OH Leuven in a 5–0 win.

On 18 February 2012, De Bruyne scored his first goal back at Genk following his agreed transfer to Chelsea and also assisted the other goal in a 1–2 away win against Mons.

De Bruyne ended the season by wrapping up the scoring in a 3–1 victory over Gent.

He finished the league campaign with eight goals from 28 appearances.

On 31 January 2012, on the winter transfer deadline day, Premier League club Chelsea and Genk announced the permanent signing of De Bruyne, with the fee rumoured to be in the region of £7 million.

On 18 July 2012, De Bruyne made his debut for Chelsea in a friendly match against Major League Soccer (MLS) side Seattle Sounders FC in a 4–2 win.

De Bruyne also played the first half against Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain at Yankee Stadium, New York City.

On 31 July 2012, Chelsea announced that De Bruyne was to join Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on a season-long loan deal.

He scored his first goal for Bremen in a 3–2 defeat to Hannover 96 on 15 September, netting from 11 yards out after being played in by Eljero Elia.

He continued his good form, scoring in Bremen's next game, a 2–2 draw with VfB Stuttgart, on 23 September.

De Bruyne got back on the score sheet on 18 November, scoring the winning goal — despite his team being down to 10 men — as Bremen came from a goal down to defeat Fortuna Düsseldorf 2–1.

De Bruyne scored his first goal in over two months on 4 May 2013, since netting a consolation goal in Bayern Munich's 6–1 hammering of Bremen, putting his side up 2–0 at home to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim before a late brace from Sven Schipplock meant that the game finished 2–2.

He followed this up with a goal in Bremen's next match, securing a place in the Bundesliga for the next season with a 1–1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on 11 May.

After a successful loan spell in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, De Bruyne was linked with a move to stay in Germany with either Borussia Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen.

He signed with Wolfsburg for £18 million in 2014, establishing himself as one of the best players in the Bundesliga and was integral in the club's 2014–15 DFB-Pokal win.

He was a member of the Belgian squads that reached the quarter-finals both at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.

In the summer of 2015, De Bruyne joined Manchester City for a then-club record £54 million.

He has since won the UEFA Champions League, five Premier League titles, five League Cups and two FA Cups with the club.

In 2017–18, he had a significant role in City becoming the only Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single league season.

De Bruyne was named in the FIFA World Cup Dream Team of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as Belgium finished in third place, as well as appearing at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

De Bruyne has been named in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, IFFHS Men's World Team and the ESM Team of the Year five times each, the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 four times, the UEFA Team of the Year three times, and the France Football World XI and the Bundesliga Team of the Year once each.

He has also won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season three times, the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, Manchester City's Player of the Year four times, the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season, the Bundesliga Player of the Year, the Footballer of the Year (Germany), the Belgian Sportsman of the Year and the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker three times each.

In 2019–20, De Bruyne equalled the record for most assists in a Premier League season and was named Player of the Season, the award he won for the second time in 2021–22.

He was again heavily involved in 2022–23, as Manchester City sealed the continental treble in their most successful season to date.