Kevin De Bruyne has made an interesting admission about his time at Manchester City that partly explains why the team has been so successful.
De Bruyne is now into his 10th season at the club, after signing from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015 for a reported £55 million.
During his time at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne has established himself as a world-class player and many have seen him as the best player in the Premier League over the last four or five years.
De Bruyne has been at the forefront of City’s success since Pep Guardiola‘s arrival one year after him, and it may well be that this season is his last at the Etihad. His contract deal expires in the summer, although he could yet extend – he will soon sit down with the club for talks.
If De Bruyne does leave, then it will have been a stellar 10 years. And there is one thing the playmaker has been quite impressed with since he first arrived.
Kevin De Bruyne claims Man City have barely had any egos since he signed in 2015
In order to achieve success in football, you have to build a dressing room with the right dynamics.
It is not necessarily a case of signing the best players on paper that are available. Sometimes, those top players can come with baggage.
One thing that can be commonplace at the top level in football is players having egos.
Sometimes, this can cause friction behind the scenes and discontent. But De Bruyne has admitted this has barely ever been an issue during his nearly 10 years at the club.
He said (via mancity.com): “In the 10 years I’ve been here, I’ve seen many great players, but I’ve not seen many egos.
“I feel like everybody knows that everybody’s important.
“I know that if I can’t play for three weeks and I know that if the guy who plays in my position plays really good, he deserves it.
“So I need to know to handle myself in the right way towards my teammates and everybody else to conduct yourself right on and off the pitch. It makes life so much easier.
“Sometimes there’s bust-ups. But there has to be arguments or fights or whatever but it never goes outside and I love it.”
De Bruyne comments explain a lot
There is no doubt about it – City’s dressing room culture has been absolutely key to the team’s success over the years.
De Bruyne is right. There have been many great players at the club – but no one has ever really carried an inflated ego.
You hardly ever read about player entitlement or arrogance when it comes to City and you just know that that dressing room is in such a healthy place.
If there are any signs of anything that Guardiola doesn’t like, then you will be out regardless of your ability or experience. The Joao Cancelo situation was perhaps the only suggestion of this in recent times.
