A emotional farewell for another City legend, tears, smiles and the statue. Kevin De Bruyne played his last game as a Manchester player at the Etihad stadium in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth. The Belgian international might play in London against Fulham on the last day of the season but this was the last opportunity for the home crowd to see their already legendary player and gave him standing ovations, which they gladly did. After 421 matches for the club, 108 goals and 19 trophies (including the Champions League) De Bruyne left the pitch half an hour before the end of the game, only to come back for his farewell after the match. City players and officials gave him a guard of honor as he made his way to the centre circle, surrounded by fireworks and smaller lights. He stopped the clap the fans in attendance as Guardiola watched on.Pep Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne’nin veda töreninde gözyaşlarını tutamadı. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/IihzaLpp14— FutbolArena (@futbolarena) May 20, 2025 As for the club‘s executives, they announced that De Bruyne‘s statue will be made outside the stadium and he will join the likes of Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, David Silva as well as other older player. Aguero, Kompany and Silva are his former teammates and two of them appeared on the big screen congratulating De Bruyne. “Hi Kevin. Congratulations for your career, it was an honour to play with you, I wish you all the best my friend, of course you are a legend at Manchester City. And me too. See you bro“ said Aguero. De Bruyne’s farewell, Rodri’s return, 4 goals and 2 red cards — can you ask for more?The crowd didn‘t stop chanting De Bruyne‘s name and also shouted “we want you to stay“, while coach Pep Guardiola couldn‘t hide his tears. “Manchester is home. It is where these kids were born. I came here with my wife to stay for a long time. Didn’t expect to stay here for 10 years and do what we have done as a club. We have won everything, made the city and the club bigger and now they are going to take over. I want to play with creativity, passion, and enjoy football. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Everybody has pushed me so hard – inside and outside the club – to be the best version of myself. The guys on the screen and in front of me made me so much better than I was before. It has been such an honour to play with them and I have made so many friends for life. You just want to do well and win, then you want to win more and push the City. We had five or six parades – to win is everything. There are too many moments to count. It has been an absolute pleasure. The fans have been so welcoming from the beginning, and to have almost a full stadium supporting me and my family means everything. It is indescribable and thank you very much“ said De Bruyne when he took over the microphone. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8939875##
