Kevin De Bruyne fought back the tears as pulled the curtain down on his stellar decade-long career with Manchester City.
City said goodbye to their club legend following their 3-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, with the club putting on a special post-match presentation in honour of De Bruyne.
After receiving a guard of honour from teammates, watching a montage on the big screen and taking in his adoring fans chanting his name, the Belgian showed a rare bit of emotion.
When asked how the rousing reception made him feel, he responded: “Ummm, very emotional.”
Interviewer Natalie Pike then allowed De Bruyne a moment to compose himself as he fought back the tears.
The cameras then panned to City boss Pep Guardiola, who let the tears roll down his face.
“Manchester is home,” De Bruyne, who’s City contract expires in the summer, said. “Manchester is where these little kids were born.
“I came here with my wife Michele and we didn’t expect to be here ten years, to do what we have done as a club, with the supporters, my teammates.
“We’ve won everything. We’ve made the club bigger and now they’re going to take over.”
De Bruyne has scored 108 goals in 421 City appearances, the first City midfielder since Colin Bell to hit triple figures, while also piling up 177 assists.
During his ten-year stay, De Bruyne became City’s most successful player, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, the Champions League, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
“I wanted to play with creativity, I wanted to play with passion,” he said. “I wanted to enjoy football and I hope, I think, everybody enjoyed it.
“Everybody pushed me so hard from the inside and outside the club to be the best version of myself.
“These guys you see on the screen and these guys in front of me made me better than I was. It was an absolute honour to play with these guys.
“I made friends for life and you know all together we will be back for sure.”
Asked how he wanted to be remembered by fans, he said: “With joy. I want to entertain people and to win.
“This teams works incredibly hard, this team wants to win and they will win in the future with me or without me.”
Before the game the club unveiled a mosaic and dedicated a road at the club’s academy to De Bruyne, and it was announced after the match he will also be honoured with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium – following on from his former teammates David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero.
The mosaic, installed by a training pitch at the City Football Academy, depicts a De Bruyne celebration and was revealed to the player by club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak ahead of the visit of the Cherries.
Created by local Manchester artist and City fan Mark Kennedy, the artwork is the latest in a series of tributes to City greats, including Silva, Kompany, Aguero, Yaya Toure, Joe Hart, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan.
De Bruyne’s near tears turned to laughter in his closing speech, making reference to viral video of him urging Silva to let him get his opinion across after an on-pitch argument.
He quipped: “I think after about ten years it’s about time someone let me talk.”
There was still a job to do for City in De Bruyne’s final home game for them with Guardiola’s men still not guaranteed a spot in next season’s Champions League.
A spectacular 25-yard piledriver from Omar Marmoush gave City the lead before Bernardo Silva doubled their advantage on 38 minutes.
De Bruyne should have got himself on the scoresheet in the first half but he inexplicably hit the crossbar from less than six yards out with an open goal gaping.
Nico Gonzalez made it 3-0 just before the 90-minute mark before Daniel Jebbison scored a consolation for Bournemouth in stoppage-time in a game which also saw Mateo Kovacic and Lewis Cook get sent off.
