Man City news: Opinion – Nedum Onuoha pays tribute to Kevin de Bruyne

When Kevin de Bruyne arrived at Manchester City, criticism was levelled at the club and the recruitment for bringing in someone who was essentially a Premier League flop.

To become a player who has now gone down as one of the most iconic midfielders in Premier League history, and who will be in many all time league XIs, has been absolutely astonishing.

For me as a fan of the football club, to see some of the things that he’s done while wearing the City shirt has been an absolute joy.

My academy connections will always drag me towards academy players being some of my favourites, but De Bruyne has been one of my favourite City players in my lifetime for the way that he plays and the fact that he’s just so good.

There’s some stuff that he does that only he could do. When you think about how good players have to be to play at the highest level, here’s somebody that is at a level above that.

Some of his passes, his movement, his goals and his leadership have been astonishing and he seems to have enjoyed every single bit of it.

He’s very much a Belgian Mancunian and credit to him for everything he has achieved in his time here.

He’ll go down as being one of the best to ever do it and the fact that he’s done it for City, for me, is a real joy because I’ve witnessed it all.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport’s Nat Hayward