Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola showered praise on Kevin de Bruyne after the club claimed a comprehensive 5-2 win against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The Belgian international recently announced that he would not be continuing with the Cityzens after the end of the ongoing season as his contract comes to a close.
After being down 2-0, Kevin de Bruyne scored from a free-kick and also provided an assist as he helped his team register a come-from-behind win.
“The gratitude I have for him is huge,” City boss Guardiola said.
“De Bruyne is incredible and I know that what he can deliver. I am happy because he is helping us. With the ball he was so, so clever, and then the goals, and the assists. He helped us a lot to win the game.”
The talismanic midfielder said he has no idea about his future and revealed his kids are a bit scared regarding the future.
“I’ve been here so long, my family has been here 10 years, my kids were born in Manchester and it’s been their whole life here — it’s going to be something different for them,” De Bruyne said after the final whistle on Saturday.
“I think they are a bit scared. It’s a bit unknown because we don’t know what’s going to happen for the moment but I want to enjoy playing good football, like I did today. I’ll be fine. If I can play football and my family is happy, I’m good.”
De Bruyne has scored 71 goals and notched 121 assists over 10 seasons with City and Guardiola understands that it won’t be easy for him to fill his big shoes.
“No one can do what Kevin has done,” Guardiola added. “I don’t want to put one second of pressure on Macca [McAtee], he has played not many minutes but I know the quality that he has in the final third. He scored one goal, he could have scored four.”
De Bruyne said he still has a lot of fuel left in his tank and would look to keep giving his best.
“It’s been a hard year,” the Belgium international told TNT Sports. “Having a hernia wasn’t fun but now I would say I’m basically pain free for the last six weeks.
“Playing with pain was hard but now I feel free. I’m able to do a lot of training sessions and I feel I can do a good job.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I want to play on so we’ll see where I can end up.”
Manchester City will next take on Everton at the Goodison Park on Saturday.
