Pep Guardiola offered a glowing tribute to Kevin De Bruyne on Friday – but what he didn’t say is maybe just as significant.
Pep Guardiola insisted he was not taken aback by Kevin De Bruyne’s announcement that he will leave Manchester City this summer. But with the Belgian’s statement dropping around half an hour before Guardiola was due to face the media, he was then uncharacteristically late for his press conference.
In that time, City published a statement in response, heralding De Bruyne’s undoubted greatness and promising a fitting tribute in due course. It felt like De Bruyne caught his employers unawares – with the timing of the announcement rather than the decision.
When Guardiola did arrive, De Bruyne’s status was underlined by a press conference ahead of a huge Manchester derby that featured just one question about United. De Bruyne has been headline news in these parts for a decade now and was the only story here.
Guardiola said everything you would expect. De Bruyne ‘transcends’ his contributions on the pitch, he said among other superlatives that weren’t exaggerations. We are dealing with a true great and maybe the greatest.
But the elephant in the room is that De Bruyne’s exit is absolutely the right time and the right call. Guardiola hinted as much amid his glowing praise and it was telling that he didn’t once suggest De Bruyne should stay or that he regrets that he hasn’t. That could well be a mark of respect, the decision has been made so why add controversy to it.
“Come on, there’s no doubt he’s one of the greatest, for sure, because of his consistency,” Guardiola said, before adding: “Except the last year, year and a half, that he had injury problems.”
Asked specifically if the time was right to part ways, he said: “The most important thing is that he feels good right now. I think we spoke recently, that he had problems after the surgery, he had the hamstring, had the problems here, in the other part of the body. But now he feels, step by step, he feels ready. The decision is made and we wish him… absolutely the best.”
Guardiola went on to cast doubt on whether De Bruyne would feature in the Club World Cup – partly because the tournament finishes after his contract expires, and also because of the risk of injury for his next steps. And he wouldn’t open up on specific conversations with De Bruyne about his contract but compared it to an emotional chat with Sergio Aguero.
“It was an emotional moment with Sergio, for example, and it was not easy for me to tell him to not continue,” the boss said. “And this situation is always so difficult, because emotions are there, they are involved, you know, because they give us too much.”
Guardiola ended on a high, wishing De Bruyne can continue at the highest level and there will be no hard feelings from either side. But when De Bruyne says ‘whether we like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye,’ he will know as much as City that his form and availability has dipped in the last two seasons.
Whoever made the decision, it was the right one. And that doesn’t detract from anything De Bruyne has done so far or may still do in the next three months.
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