Kevin De Bruyne (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɛvɪn də ˈbrœynə]; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains both Premier League club Manchester City and the Belgium national team.

On 31 January 2012, on the winter transfer deadline day, Premier League club Chelsea and Genk announced the permanent signing of De Bruyne, with the fee rumoured to be in the region of £7 million.

"[18][19] On 18 July 2012, De Bruyne made his debut for Chelsea in a friendly match against Major League Soccer (MLS) side Seattle Sounders FC in a 4–2 win.

[29][30] After a successful loan spell in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, De Bruyne was linked with a move to stay in Germany with either Borussia Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen.

[46] De Bruyne began the season by winning the 2015 DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich, providing the cross for Nicklas Bendtner's 89th-minute equaliser for a 1–1 draw and then scoring in the subsequent penalty shootout.

[48] In August, in the midst of transfer speculation, De Bruyne said that he would not force Wolfsburg to sell him, but also said that he could not ignore interest from Manchester City, saying: "If an offer does come, I will hear about it and how much it is, but I have not yet heard anything...

[58] On 2 October, De Bruyne was announced as one of the players on the longlist for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d'Or award, alongside teammates Agüero and Yaya Touré.

[60] On 21 October, De Bruyne scored an injury-time winner against Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League, to take City within one point of group leaders Juventus, with three games remaining.

[62] On 27 January 2016, De Bruyne scored a goal in a League Cup semi-final 3–1 victory over Everton, but sustained an injury to his right knee that would keep him out of the team for two months.

[63] On 2 April, De Bruyne made his return from injury in a 4–0 win against Bournemouth at Dean Court, scoring the team's second goal in the twelfth minute.

[64] Four days later, he scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg at the Parc des Princes.

Writing in The Independent, Mark Ogden said, "It was a stunning goal from the Belgian, who took a touch to control the ball before curling it beyond Kevin Trapp from the edge of the penalty area.

[72] On 21 January 2017, De Bruyne was involved in both of City's goals, as he netted once himself and also assisted Leroy Sané's, in a 2–2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur; he was subsequently named man of the match.

[94][95] On 25 February, he started in the 2018 EFL Cup Final against Arsenal, and played the whole 90 minutes, with Manchester City winning 3–0 to obtain their first piece of silverware of the 2017–18 season, and their first trophy overall under Pep Guardiola.

[111] He came on as substitute in the FA Cup final against Watford, scoring the third goal and assisting two more, as City won the first-ever domestic treble in English men's football.

[116] De Bruyne scored his 50th City goal in all competitions on 26 February 2020 in their 2–1 victory, coming from behind, over Real Madrid in their Champions League Round of 16 clash.

[125] With the crucial visit of the Premier League champions, Liverpool, De Bruyne assisted Gabriel Jesus' equalizer before winning a penalty, which he subsequently fired wide.

[128] On 25 April 2021, De Bruyne's free-kick was headed into the goal by Aymeric Laporte, allowing City to win 1–0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

[130] On 29 May, De Bruyne had a head injury after colliding with Antonio Rüdiger in the second half of the Champions League Final, to be substituted by Gabriel Jesus; however, his team lost 1–0 against his former club Chelsea.

[131] Medical scans after the game revealed De Bruyne to have suffered acute nose bone and left orbital fractures, placing doubt on his participation in the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.

[135][136] Sky Sports commentator Andy Hinchcliffe described the feat as "Twenty-three minutes of footballing genius" and Jeremy Wilson, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said "De Bruyne's 'wrong-footed' hat-trick was one of the best displays in Premier League history".

[141] On 26 April 2023, De Bruyne scored a brace and provided an assist in a 4–1 win over Arsenal, which reduced their rival's lead at the league table to two points, with his team had two games in hand.

[146] After the season, De Bruyne was nominated for UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award along with Lionel Messi and Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland.

[147] De Bruyne started the 2023–24 season, on 6 August, coming on as a substitute in the 2023 FA Community Shield against Arsenal, missing a penalty as the Gunners won the shoot-out 4–1.

[156] De Bruyne became a regular member of Belgium's team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, where he scored four goals as the Red Devils qualified for their first major tournament in 12 years.

[158] In their first game of the tournament, against Algeria in Belo Horizonte, De Bruyne assisted Marouane Fellaini's equaliser[159] and was named man of the match by FIFA.

He is often described by pundits as one of the best and most complete modern day advanced playmakers due to his technique, skill, athleticism, work-rate off the ball, vision, crossing accuracy, wide range of passing, and powerful long-range shooting ability with either foot.

[190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197] Although he is not blessed with significant physical strength, pace, or ability in the air,[198] he is a quick and elegant player on the ball with good dribbling skills, while his positional sense, tactical intelligence, movement, direct style of play and ability to run at defences when in possession also enable him to take advantage of spaces in the opposition's defence and subsequently create chances and goalscoring opportunities for himself or his team-mates, making him a dangerous offensive threat on counter-attacks.

[230] In 2019, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku handed out shoes to needy children in regional hospitals for a special campaign 'Kicks for Kids' organized by Roc Nation Sports.

[231] De Bruyne has also been involved in other charitable initiatives, including the "Common Goal" campaign, which encourages professional footballers to donate 1% of their wages to support various global social causes.