Who is Kevin De Bruyne? Get to know Man City’s £54.5m assist king

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Kevin De Bruyne will go down as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats.

Brilliant things were expected of Kevin De Bruyne when he first joined Chelsea as one of the game’s most highly-rated prospects.

Things didn’t go the Belgian’s way in London but he forged his own path, enjoying great success in Germany and proving his quality before earning his way back to the Premier League.

Manchester City signed De Bruyne in 2015 and he has gone on to enjoy incredible success over the nine years since.

Quite simply, he has become one of the best midfielders of the modern era under Pep Guardiola.

Everyone knows how good Kevin De Bruyne is on the football pitch – but what else is there to know about City’s assist king? Here, we answer all of your frequently asked questions.

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How old is Kevin De Bruyne?

Kevin De Bruyne was born on June 28, 1991, in the town of Drongen, Belgium.

As of August 2024, he is 33 years old.

Kevin De Bruyne height and weight

Kevin De Bruyne stands at 5 feet and nine inches (181cm) tall and weighs 68kg, according to TNT Sports.

Though renowned for his sublime passing and crossing, De Bruyne can also be quite physical when he wants to be and uses his stocky build to power past players when on the ball.

Who is Kevin De Bruyne’s wife?

Michele Lacroix is the wife of Kevin De Bruyne and the pair have been together since 2014.

The Sun reports that Lacroix, who is from Genk in Belgium, met when De Bruyne was playing for Wolfsburg in Germany.

The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Mason Milian, in 2016 and De Bruyne proposed the same year beneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

They were married in 2017 in Italy and welcomed their second son, Rome, the following year.

A third child, this time a daughter named Suri, was born in 2020.

What happened between Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois?

Kevin De Bruyne had a falling out with friend and international teammate Thibaut Courtois in 2014 when his then-girlfriend, Caroline Linjen, cheated on him with and left him for the goalkeeper.

In his autobiography, Keep it Simple, published in 2014, as cited by Tribuna, De Bruyne wrote: “Although I still can not believe what Courtois has done, we continue to work together professionally.

“The coach asked me if he should leave the team.

“I do not think I had the right to say that he can not play for the national team anymore because he did something wrong.

“Of course, he remains a good goalkeeper. So I said he could stay.”

However, Linjen claimed she did it as De Bruyne cheated on her first. She said in the Belgian publication Story Magazine, as cited by the Daily Mail: “Kevin cheated on me.

“I did not say anything for months because I couldn’t say anything, as Kevin’s parents said they would take legal action if I gave my story. I was under pressure and I could not have contact with Kevin.

“I respected everything. But in his book Keep it Simple Kevin wrote a passage about my affair with Thibaut. So, I decided to remain silent no longer.

“In the summer of 2012, Kevin told me that he had an affair with my old best friend. I gave him the choice: her or me.

“I was ready to give him another chance, but our relationship was never the same afterwards.

“[I then went to Madrid, and even] Kevin thought that this trip was a good idea.

“I asked him beforehand. But then something happened that should never have happened.

“That evening, Thibaut offered me what I had not received during a three-year relationship with Kevin.

“With Thibaut, I could talk about anything and everything and he had even prepared me a delicious meal. Kevin never did it for me.

“Kevin had deceived me and I thought ‘why shouldn’t I do that to?'”

Kevin De Bruyne Instagram and X

Kevin De Bruyne has an official Instagram account with 26 million followers.

He also has an official X account where he has 5.2 million followers.

Kevin De Bruyne salary and contract

Kevin De Bruyne is Manchester City’s top earner and gets paid a staggering £400,000 per week.

He has been on that wage since signing his current deal in April, 2021, and currently earns an annual salary of £20.8m after tax.

His current contract is set to expire on June, 30, 2025.

Kevin De Bruyne club history

Kevin De Bruyne has played for five clubs in his professional career.

• KRC Genk: 2005-2012
• Chelsea: 2012-2014
  • KRC Genk, on loan: 2012
  • Werder Bremen, on loan: 2013-2014
• Wolfsburg: 2014-2015
• Manchester City: 2015-Present

Kevin De Bruyne transfer fees and total cost

• KRC Genk > Chelsea – Chelsea paid £6.7m to sign De Bruyne from Genk, according to The Guardian.
• Chelsea > Wolfsburg – German side Wolfsburg paid £18m for De Bruyne, according to Sky Sports.
• Wolfsburg – Man City – Just a year later, City paid £54.5m to bring De Bruyne back to England.

Why did Chelsea sell Kevin De Bruyne?

Jose Mourinho was in charge at Chelsea when De Bruyne was sold and he has often come in for criticism, as has the club, for letting such a world-class talent leave.

Chelsea also had Mohamed Salah at the same time but didn’t utilise his talent either.

Speaking to TalkSPORT in 2021, Mourinho explained why De Bruyne was allowed to leave.

He said: “He impressed me so much I made the decision I don’t want this kid to go on loan, I want him to stay, and in our first match of the Premier League season he started against Hull City.

“In the second match we got to Old Trafford and after this he come to me and said, ‘I want to play every match, I want to play every minute’. He put a lot of pressure on that.

“He wanted to leave, he wanted to go to Germany where he was previously on loan and so happy, and his decision was to go.

“He put big pressure on that and it worked very well for him. The story is there and the quality of the player is absolute, he is top five in the world.”

Kevin De Bruyne stats

Kevin De Bruyne Man City career stats

Kevin De Bruyne’s pre-Man City stats

How many Premier League goals and assists has Kevin De Bruyne got?

Kevin De Bruyne has played 253 times in the Premier League, scoring 68 times.

He also has 113 assists which puts him second in the all-time list of Premier League assists after overtaking Cesc Fabregas. Ryan Giggs is top with 162.

Kevin De Bruyne international stats for Belgium

Kevin De Bruyne trophies and honours

Kevin De Bruyne is a highly decorated footballer having won trophies in three different countries.

Major honours won

Man City trophies

• Champions League – 2022/23
• x6 Premier League titles – 2023/24, 2022/23, 2021/22, 2020/21, 2018/19, 2017/18
• Club World Cup – 2024
• UEFA Super Cup – 2022/23
• x2 FA Cups – 2023, 2019
• x5 League Cups – 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016
• x3Community Shields – 2024/25, 2019/20, 2018/19

Wolfsburg trophies

• DFB Pokal – 2015/15
• German Super Cup – 2015/16

KRC Genk trophies

• Belgian Cup – 2009
• Belgian Pro League – 2010/11
• Belgian Super Cup – 2011/12

International honours

• World Cup bronze medal – 2018

Individual honours

• Bundesliga Young Player of the Year – 2012–13
• Bundesliga Player of the Year – 2014–15
• Bundesliga Team of the Year – 2014–15
• UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season – 2014–15
• Footballer of the Year (Germany) – 2015
• Belgian Sportsman of the Year – 2015
• Manchester City Player of the Season – 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2021–22
• FIFA FIFPRO World 11 – 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• UEFA Team of the Year – 2017, 2019, 2020
• PFA Premier League Team of the Year – 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
• Premier League Playmaker of the Season – 2017–18, 2019–20,[4] 2022–23[292]
• UEFA Champions League Team of the Season – 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22,2022–23
• FIFA World Cup Dream Team – 2018
• Premier League Player of the Season – 2019–20, 2021–22
• PFA Players’ Player of the Year – 2019–20, 2020–21
• FSA Player of the Year – 2022
• UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season – 2019–20
• Premier League Player of the Year by Northwest Football Awards – 2020, 2022

Kevin De Bruyne in the Ballon d’Or

Kevin De Bruyne finished third in the voting for the Ballon d’Or in 2022, finishing behind Sadio Mane and winner Karim Benzema. It’s his highest-ever finish.

In 2023, he finished fourth behind third-placed Kylian Mbappe, teammate Ering Haaland and winner Lionel Messi.

Kevin De Bruyne’s Champions League final heartbreak and black eye

For a player who has enjoyed so much success in his career, Kevin De Bruyne has been desperately unlucky in the two Champions League finals he’s competed in.

In City’s first time in the final when they took on Chelsea in Porto in 2021, the Belgian had to be taken off on the hour mark.

De Bruyne was caught in a nasty collision with the shoulder of defender Antonio Rudiger which left him with a fractured nose and orbital fracture to his left eye socket.

He left the field in tears with an ugly black eye already showing on his face. City lost the match 1-0.

Two years later, lightning would strike twice as De Bruyne lasted just 36 minutes of the final against Inter.

This time the midfielder suffered a serious hamstring tear which forced him off the field but on this occasion, City at least managed to win the trophy.

Kevin De Bruyne Premier League assist record

Despite spending the first half of the 2023/24 season sidelined with a severe hamstring injury, De Bruyne still managed to register 18 assists in just 26 appearances.

10 of them came in the Premier League, which saw him leapfrog Cesc Fabregas to go second in the all-time Premier League assist charts.

De Bruye now has 112 assists in the league to his name but is still 50 away from reaching Ryan Giggs in top spot.