Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports/Manchester City
Topics: Kevin De Bruyne, Man City, Manchester City, Champions League
Chris Nee
Topics: Kevin De Bruyne, Man City, Manchester City, Champions League
Kevin De Bruyne anticipated success when he returned to England to sign for Manchester City in 2015 but he might not have been expecting the extraordinary wealth of talent he'd come to play alongside.
Man City and De Bruyne have won the Premier League together six times and finally added the Champions League in 2022-23.
Now 33, De Bruyne announced this month that he will be leaving City at the end of the season and has since spoken of his surprise that a contract extension offer didn't come his way.
He started the last two Premier League matches against Everton and Crystal Palace as City approach the end of a frustrating season for the Belgian.
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Pep Guardiola and City take on Aston Villa tonight in an important match in the battle to qualify for the Champions League.
They also remain in contention for De Bruyne's third FA Cup.
With a medal collection like that, it's hardly surprising that De Bruyne holds his team-mates and former team-mates in high esteem.
In a recent Sky Sports interview, the Belgium international was asked to name his favourite City stars to play with.
Inevitably, they're an impressive bunch.
"First, David Silva. Second, Yaya Toure. Third, Kun Sergio Aguero. Fourth, Fernandinho," said De Bruyne.
The quartet of City legends won 17 Premier League titles between them and collected an astonishing total of 380 international caps.
Having signed for the club during Roberto Mancini's time as manager, Silva played five years with De Bruyne and five years without him in a City shirt. He left for Real Sociedad in 2020 and retired from football three years later.
Midfielder Toure enjoyed great success with Barcelona before being reunited with Guardiola when his former Barca coach was appointed to replace Manuel Pellegrini at City in 2016.
Aguero scored one of the most famous goals in Man City history, firing the team to glory early in his decade at the Etihad Stadium. He scored 184 league goals in the Premier League, the most a non-English player has scored for a single club.
Brazilian Fernandinho was a hugely popular City captain and made more than 260 Premier League appearances. Though he's out with a serious injury, the Athletico Paranaense midfielder, now 39, has not yet retired.
De Bruyne is expected to keep going too. Talk of a move to Major League Soccer gathers pace.