Over the past decade or so, Manchester City fans have had the privilege of watching some of the very best players in the world.
The landscape completely changed at Manchester City when, in September 2008, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi United Group performed a takeover at The Etihad.
Since then, Man City have won eight Premier League titles, with six of those coming during Pep Guardiola‘s nine-year reign.
The real sign of just how successful City have been is that this season is the first campaign where they have actually regressed since Pep arrived at the club.
Things have got so bad this season that Pep Guardiola’s future in charge of Manchester City has even been called into question.
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The challenge now for the Spaniard will be to build a team who are capable of dominating once again, both domestically and on the continent.
However, John Obi Mikel thinks there could be trouble ahead.
John Obi Mikel says Manchester City would struggle without Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne has been the best and most consistent player at Man City over the past decade.
He has bagged an incredible 106 goals and 176 assists in 414 games for Manchester City (Transfermarkt).
Earlier this week, Kevin De Bruyne announced that he will be leaving Manchester City this summer.
And John Obi Mikel has suggested that City will struggle without him.
When speaking on The Obi One podcast, the former Chelsea star absolutely raved about De Bruyne:
“This is the one player that you can actually say that without Kevin De Bruyne, City maybe will struggle to achieve what they’ve achieved. Because he was that good. He is that good.
“He is that good of a player. And I, in a million years, didn’t think he was going to become this good. For me, it’s a joy to watch Kevin De Bruyne play over this decade.”
Man City’s best player – Kevin De Bruyne, Yaya Toure or David Silva?
Former Man City player Micah Richards has delivered his take on the above question.
Richards responded when asked if De Bruyne is City’s best player in recent history:
“I played with Yaya Toure and David Silva, and I thought they were the best players but I think he’s just outed them over these last couple of seasons.
“David Silva was more of a touch, technician, get the ball deep and play through the lines, Yaya Toure was so good on the ball; he could burst forward and play a pass, but Kevin De Bruyne, his numbers are just different gravy. What a player he’s been. Absolute legend.”
He’s right – Kevin De Bruyne will leave Manchester City as an absolute legend.
Without him, Man City would not have enjoyed as much success as they have over the past decade.
Now the challenge for them is to win trophies without the Belgian. Good luck with that!
