Is Kevin De Bruyne the best Premier League player of all time?

Kevin De Bruyne has been excelling at the highest level for years, impressing with his passing and mind-blowing vision. After his fabulous return from injury against Newcastle in the 2023/24 season, some are asking: is De Bruyne the best Premier League player ever? Let's take a look at his career and some of his achievements to date. All statistics and career facts are sourced from Transfermarkt.

De Bruyne started playing football for local Belgian clubs KVV Drongen and KAA Gent, but in 2005 he joined KRC Genk, known for their excellent youth system. There he made a name for himself with the reserves, scoring five goals in one game, according to Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg.

De Bruyne soon took the next step at Genk, making his debut on 9 May 2009 in a match against Sporting Charleroi in the Belgian league. In the following seasons, he would become a key player for the club and one of Belgium's most promising young footballers.

After winning the Belgian Cup (2009) and the Belgian league with Genk (2010/11), Chelsea came knocking on De Bruyne's door. The Blues signed him in January 2012 for €8 million on a 5,5-year deal, but the Belgian stayed at Genk for another six months on loan.

In the summer of 2012, De Bruyne moved to Chelsea, but almost immediately went on loan to Werder Bremen, where he scored ten goals and provided ten assists in total in the 2012/13 campaign. Although De Bruyne showed his enormous potential in Germany, he did not get many opportunities at Stamford Bridge upon his return and was sold to VfL Wolfsburg in January 2014 for €22 million.

Many still wonder why De Bruyne did not fare well in London, making just nine appearances for the Blues, in which he provided one assist. According to then Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, it was De Bruyne himself who forced an exit.

"[Chelsea said] Kevin should go on loan to a German club, and I told the club ‘No, I don’t want him on loan, I want him with me," Manchester Evening News cites Mourinho. "He stayed with me and he starts the Premier League playing in the starting XI. After that game, we played the European Super Cup in Prague against Bayern Munich, and he didn’t play that game. The next day, he wants to leave!"

De Bruyne wanted playing time, and that was exactly what Wolfsburg offered him. He thanked the club by scoring ten goals and giving 21 assists in the 2014/2015 Bundesliga season, propelled Wolfsburg to a second-place finish, and was named German Footballer of the Year.

Manchester City followed the Belgian closely and took action in the summer of 2105, paying €76 million for his services. De Bruyne's impact at City was immediate: he scored seven goals and provided nine assists in his first Premier League season, and scored in the Champions League to send City to its first-ever semi-final. "A stunning goal from the Belgian," as The Independent's Mark Ogden put it at the time.

It didn't take De Bruyne long to start filling his City trophy cabinet. He took off with the 2016 League Cup and never looked back after that, racking up five Premier League titles and two FA Cups, among other triumphs.

De Bruyne oozes class, and is the perfect playmaker in Pep Guardiola's system at City, which requires players with great technical ability. In addition, the Spaniard lets De Bruyne run free on the pitch, something the midfielder enjoys and needs to be at his best.

As OneFootball's Amos Murphy recalls, De Bruyne scored countless "screamers from outside the box", but it's his passing that really makes him stand out in the modern-day game. Murphy noted in January 2024 that De Bruyne "has the best assist-to-minute ratio in Premier League history, averaging one every other match".

De Bruyne's passes, however, need an end product, and that is just what Erling Haaland has provided since arriving at the Etihad. The Norwegian has a special connection with his playmaker, and has already scored plenty of goals and will no doubt continue to do so in the future under the De Bruyne's brilliant guidance.

The aura of great Premier League legends only grows if they also do so on the European stage. That is precisely what De Bruyne did in the 2022/23 season, guiding City to their first Champions League victory after a superb semi-final display against reigning champions Real Madrid. This might just put him above Thierry Henry, named the Premier League's best player of all time by The Sun.

However, De Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury in the final against Internazionale that kept him sidelined for months and required surgery. He made his comeback on 13 January 2024 against Newcastle in emphatic fashion, scoring an equaliser and setting up Oscar Bobb for the winner at St. James' Park.

However, De Bruyne did it many times before, against the big boys, as OneFootball's Amos Murphy vividly recalls: "Every single team in the Premier League has had a day – some of them more than one – where Kevin De Bruyne has embarrassed them on the football pitch. Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United, Tottenham and even Liverpool – they’ve all experienced it at least once."

Do you think De Bruyne is the best Premier League player of all time? Let us know in the comments!