Kevin De Bruyne may be a legend at Manchester City, having inspired the club to 16 trophies in his 10 years at the club, but that does not seem to have guaranteed him a starting spot in the first XI for his final home game at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. When the ongoing Premier League season ends, De Bruyne ends his association with the Manchester club, which he joined from Bundesliga club Wolfsburg in 2015 with six Premier League titles and the Champions League title in 2023 to his name.
City manager Pep Guardiola said he could not promise a start for the playmaker with the club in the race to secure Champions League qualification. De Bruyne played the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Now with the home game against Bournemouth in the Premier League coming three days later, the 33-year-old may not be in the first XI.
The Associated Press noted that Guardiola would not even commit to declare that De Bruyne will feature at least as a substitute.
“Kevin will get what he deserves, and what he deserves is the best moment and the best compliment for his incredible trajectory and what he has done with the incredible other legends in this club,” Guardiola said at a press conference on Monday.
Guardiola said he is purely thinking about fielding “the best players to win the game against Bournemouth.”
“What Kevin will want is that we win the game to qualify for the Champions League next season,” the manager added. “This is what Kevin wants, it could not be otherwise.”
Manchester City’s final game in the Premier League will be against Fulham on Sunday. The club are presently in sixth place, a point behind third-place Newcastle United, fourth-place Chelsea and fifth-place Aston Villa. Only the top five will secure a Champions League spot.
Since they have a very healthy goal difference, the club only needs to accumulate four points from their final two games to secure a Champions League spot which keeps their streak of playing in Europe’s top club competition since 2011-12.
