Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has insisted he does not care that the club failed to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona this summer.
De Bruyne was in superb form throughout the 2019/20 season, with the Belgium international equaling Thierry Henry’s long-standing record of 20 assists in a single league campaign. He also scored 13 goals. He was recently selected as the PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
City have already strengthened this summer, but when Messi announced his desire to leave Barca, reports soon emerged that the Premier League outfit were frontrunners for his signature. It has now been confirmed that Messi will stay at the Camp Nou for another season, but despite the links, De Bruyne admits he has not followed the updates closely.
“I didn’t really think about it to be honest,” De Bruyne told the Daily Mail. If it could have been, it would have been. If you can get Messi in your team, you’re always going to do it. Can see it from a sporting point of view and especially as a club…I really can’t [care]. If he comes, it will help us because for me he has been the best player ever.
PFA Players’ Player of the Year? pic.twitter.com/5DlirRNOMG
— Kevin DeBruyne (@DeBruyneKev) September 9, 2020
Despite his impressive displays, De Bruyne was unable to help Man City to European glory last season, crashing out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage last term in a shock defeat by Lyon. After the match, he claimed it was ‘not good enough’, while manager Pep Guardiola was criticized for his approach to the game.
However, De Bruyne has now opened up about his boss’s approach and mentality, admitting that it can be difficult for some to understand him because he is stuck in his ways.
He said: “The way he looks at football is different to how many people look at football. He has his own philosophy and he sticks to it and doesn’t change.
“There’s a plan A and there’s a plan A. There’s no plan B. It’s hard for a lot of people to understand. It can happen. [players wanting a different approach] In your mind but later you will find that plan A works for us most of the time.
“I think everyone is really confident. [in the plan] Although at any point in the game you keep saying you want ‘this’ or ‘this’. Or we should do ‘that’. But that happens in every club.”