Kevin de Bruyne reached a notable milestone when he became only the fifth player to reach 100 Premier League assists, but how does his record as a provider compare to the others who are in that elite group?
Simply put, he’s head and shoulders above all of the others.
Ryan Giggs, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard are the other four assist centurions. When it comes to the rate of providing goals, the Belgian playmaker trumps the lot.
For a start, he was the quickest to reach the milestone, smashing the previous record held by Fabregas.
For another way to break down the rate of assists that de Bruyne provides, he sets up a goal every 182 minutes, which worked out to one every second full game that he plays – an extraordinary rate to keep up over eight seasons at Manchester City.
It’s worth noting that other players in the 100 assists club also had other playing roles other than providing goals. For instance, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard were far more prominent goalscorers that have far more career goals than assists (Rooney 208 and Lampard 177).
However, if we’re purely measuring a player’s playmaking ability and how often he provides the final pass, de Bruyne stands alone.
He’s the only player that has made 15 or more assists in three different seasons which includes his 2019/20 haul where he matched Thierry Henry’s record of 20 in one campaign. With de Bruyne on 14 assists this season with nine games to go, he could be on course to hold the outright record this season.
Apart from comparing de Bruyne with other goal providers of the past, it’s staggering when you see how far ahead compared to current players.
Since he joined Manchester City in the 2015/16 season, he’s got 99 assists (to go with one that he made when he was a Chelsea player a few seasons earlier).
In that period of Premier League football, Christian Eriksen is second on the list way behind the Belgian with 67 assists.
It’s interesting to note that Raheem Sterling is third with 58 and Riyad Mahrez fourth with 56. It just goes to show just how far ahead Manchester City have been in the last few seasons when it comes to players scoring as well as providing goals.
Of all the stars that have been at Pep Guardiola’s disposal, Kevin de Bruyne has been the fulcrum of City’s success. As a player that’s just as adept to provide a killer pass from deep in midfield as well as higher up the pitch, he’s provided many match-winning (and title-winning) moments.
Aside from being the leading provider, he’s also provided more than enough goals, earning his reputation as a player that puts his hand up in the big matches.
His peers recognised his class by naming him PFA Players’ Player of the Year twice in a row – the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo to achieve that feat.
Of all the accolades, the one de Bruyne will be eyeing the most is a fifth Premier League winners’ medal. Only five non-British players have reached that mark before, namely Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Peter Schmeichel, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho.
As the epitome of a modern playmaker, it’s hard to keep de Bruyne off any list of the footballing elite.