"It’s time for him to go to a Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich" - Stan Collymore explains why Kevin De Bruyne should consider a move away from Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester City suffered another disappointment in the Champions League as they fell to a 6-5 defeat on aggregate to Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Following the setback, former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has urged the Belgian midfielder to consider leaving the Etihad Stadium this summer.
The Englishman recalled giving the Manchester City superstar a similar piece of advice two years ago when he encouraged him to leave the Cityzens for Jurgen Klopp's side. He said:
“In August 2020, I wrote a column saying Kevin De Bruyne should go to Liverpool and, of course, at the time the comments on it were all, ‘Ha ha ha, why would he want to go there?’ Well, those who took the time to reply are not laughing now and I can’t help wondering if it has crossed his mind that it might be time for a change."
Real Madrid have knocked out an English side from the #UCL semi-finals for the first time since 2016. The team then? Manchester City. 🤨 https://t.co/cGjzuGJhCL
Collymore believes Kevin De Bruyne will have questions on his mind regarding the level of his teammates at the Etihad. The Englishman claims the midfielder's teammates aren't getting the best out of him, especially in big games. He continued:
“As a player, you know when you walk off the pitch whether or not you have had the impact you wanted to have on a game. And after City’s Champions League exit, I’m sure De Bruyne will have been looking around thinking, ‘Are other people as good as I am? Will they help get me to where I need to be? Do I need to go to a club which is a routine winning machine?’"
“His effectiveness in the biggest one-off games for club and country is actually very poor. Maybe it’s time for him to go to a Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, a club, or more importantly organization, that has that winning mentality which gets the best out of him."
Toni Kroos after Real Madrid's comeback against Man City 😂 https://t.co/DHaZflxLuY
Kevin De Bruyne's numbers for Manchester City this season
The Belgian has made 41 appearances for the Cityzens across all competitions so far this season, recording 15 goals and 12 assists. This includes 11 goals in the Premier League, two in the Champions League and one each in both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Following their elimination from the Champions League, Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester City will return to EPL action this weekend with a clash with Newcastle United on Sunday (May 8).