Kevin De Bruyne admits he feels ‘old’ as only surviving member of Man City squad inherited by Pep Guardiola
KEVIN DE BRUYNE is Manchester City’s last man standing — but plans to stick around and embrace more change at the Etihad.
The exits of Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho this summer mean two more links with the pre-Pep Guardiola era have gone.
And it has left KDB feeling old — as the only remaining member of the first-team squad the Catalan boss inherited back in summer 2016. That has not happened by chance.
Guardiola clearly admires the way De Bruyne conducts himself in the dressing room — as well as his outstanding ability on the pitch.
He told new-boy Erling Haaland that the experienced Belgian will be the most important person in helping him to settle into his new surroundings.
So the chances are the 31-year-old star — who has three more years on his contract — will be around for a while yet.
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Asked about the photo showing faces he out-lasted, he said: “Yeah I saw that. It shows I’m getting old now!
“That’s how it goes sometimes but I’ve been at the club seven years now, Pep has been here six. It’s a long time in football these days.
“But I’m still very happy with what I’m doing here and hopefully the club is happy with me.
“Everything has changed so much since Pep came but it was funny to see there was just me left.”
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Guardiola has undertaken the biggest churn of his tenure this summer — he has allowed the likes of Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to go while bringing Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez into his squad.
De Bruyne has seen plenty of people come and go since arriving in 2015 but generally City have found a way to win — and he hopes he will do again.
He added: “There’s been a lot of change this year.
“It’s been quite sad but some of the players who’ve gone, I had a good relationship with them.
“In one way I can understand why it sometimes happens in football but the other part is sorry to see them go.
“Sometimes it’s good to have the same team around you, but also you need to change things at times.
“It all depends on the end of the season how things are. We have done so well with this team.
“In the past, new faces have come in and others have gone but we’ve still found a way to win titles.
“So hopefully we can do that again this year.”
The thought of De Bruyne teeing up new striker Erling Haaland, 22, has got City fans drooling.
And there were promising signs as they linked up for the first time in the 1-0 win over Bayern Munich at the home of the Green Bay Packers yesterday.
The former Borussia Dortmund hero Haaland got a winner and KDB has been impressed by his new team-mate who seems to cope with all the hype.
He said: “I think it’s normal for the fans to be excited about him.
“You just look at his track record as a striker and he’s already one of the best in the world.
“If you sign someone like that then there is going to be a lot of expectation but it doesn’t feel like he’s feeling the pressure so far.
“He’s doing really well, the quality he has in front of goal is well known.
“He’s not done that much with us, coming back slowly.
“Let’s give him some time but he’ll be sharp and ready when he needs to be.
“In the first game of the season, if he’s there, I’m sure everyone will be looking but he has signed for five or six years, I think he will score a couple of goals in that time!”
For KDB — one of the Prem’s assist kings — it will be exciting to have an out-and-out forward after two years playing without one.
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He said: “As a midfielder, it’s always good to see a player like him come in.
“If a striker wants to score goals I will try to help him do that.”