Mikel Arteta makes Kevin De Bruyne feelings clear as Man City decide to let him leave

Mikel Arteta believes Kevin De Bruyne is among the best players in history and the undisputed greatest at playing a pass while moving at high speed.

boss Arteta worked closely with De Bruyne when he served as an assistant coach to at and he reckons the soon to depart midfielder must be considered up there with the very best in Premier League history.

De Bruyne announced on Friday that he will depart City this summer after a decade at the club. But the 33-year-old has struggled to hit the heights in a difficult campaign for the soon to be former champions, scoring just four goals and providing seven assists across only 19 starts.

Guardiola said on Friday that "it was not easy for me to tell him it won't continue," suggesting that it was a case of City not offering De Bruyne a new deal than the six-times Premier League winner being determined to move on.

And De Bruyne himself hinted at the decision to say goodbye not being his own when writing on social media: "Whether we like it or not, it's time to say goodbye."

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Yet his stock across the league remains sky high and ahead of the Belgian’s final Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon Arteta said: “I don’t know if he’s the one, the two or the three, but for me he’s one of the best players in the history of the Premier League.

“I’ve never seen, I’ve never played with a player that can execute that precisely at high speed. He can be running at 33, 34 kilometres an hour and play the ball 30 metres through two people to the perfect spot. I haven’t seen anybody else do that at that pace.”

Asked about replacing De Bruyne, Guardiola added: “The club has to move forward, move on, and replicating this kind of player is so difficult. “

But yeah, these are the qualities and things we have to find. Of course it’s difficult. People say Erling [Haaland] came to replace Sergio [Aguero], but Sergio was irreplaceable for so many things and it wasn’t just about the goals.

“Sergio gave something that is unique and Erling will be unique. Sergio scored to create the most-important moment in the club’s history, that goal in that moment, everybody knows, .

“Some things can’t be substituted, they are so important. I would love to be eternal here and Sergio and now Kevin, but it’s not possible.

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