Kevin De Bruyne will leave Manchester City at the end of the season and can lift one final trophy this weekend in the shape of the FA Cup.
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Pep Guardiola might have to make an unpopular decision around Kevin De Bruyne in the final week of the season.
The most animated Pep Guardiola got in his press conference on the eve of the FA Cup final was in a dig at the Premier League over their scheduling of Manchester City's final home game of the season.
After taking on Crystal Palace in Saturday's cup final, City host Bournemouth in a must-win game on Tuesday given they are yet to confirm a Champions League place. Guardiola wanted an extra day to recover, noting the league accommodating Tottenham's request to move their fixture this weekend to help their Europa League final prospects.
Instead, City have a Saturday-Tuesday turnaround between their only chance at silverware this season and a vital Premier League clash. The Bournemouth fixture is also City's chance to bid an Etihad farewell to Kevin De Bruyne after making the decision not to extend his deal past the summer.
So what is the best way to honour De Bruyne this week while also trying to achieve the more important aims of winning the FA Cup and securing Champions League football? Giving him a prominent role in the cup final and a chance to lift one final trophy (assuming he doesn't play in the Club World Cup), or letting him be the main man against Bournemouth?
"I'm thinking just in tomorrow's game," Guardiola said bluntly. "Winning will help us for the final we have on Tuesday against Bournemouth, and I select the team for the way they play, the best to beat them."
Later, it felt like Guardiola was confirming that De Bruyne will start at Wembley. "I play with him because I believe he can produce what he has produced so far," he said.
"Against Crystal Palace [in the Premier League last month], 0-2 down, he changed the game with his free kick. The situation that we are in, we cannot do it just for being generous. It's because I believe, truly believe that we need him and he's going to help us."
So will he start at Wembley? "I don't know yet. I have an idea. We'll see," came the reply. Supporters have raised thousands to fund a huge banner paying tribute to De Bruyne before the cup final - they will be itching to see his name on the team sheet.
Maybe De Bruyne will start both games, or maybe Guardiola will prioritise the cup final and assess De Bruyne from there. The manager did, however, dismissed the significance of the Belgian lifting the FA Cup as captain if City beat Palace.
"Kevin wants to do it for us, for the team. Of course we want to do it for him," Guardiola explained. "But to win you have to perform, you have to behave, you have to do something. But he was not the captain for many, many years and he lifted already a lot of trophies, a lot.
"He lifted maybe 18, 19 trophies in nine, 10 years, so it's not bad I would say. So if he can do one more, that would be good. Maybe he was not the first to lift the trophies, but he lifted a lot."
De Bruyne was an FA Cup final goalscorer in 2019 and was pivotal in the 2023 win over United. 2024 was a quieter final and the Belgian was substituted early after an injury-hit season. It's fair to say his record in finals in general has been hit-and-miss, largely due to his rotten injury luck in Champions League showpieces.
And as much as De Bruyne has shown glimpses of his quality this season, it hasn't been consistent enough to justify a new contract. Guardiola has appeared irritated at the suggestion that City could change their mind and De Bruyne called it a 'business decision'. He has nothing to prove, Guardiola insists, yet De Bruyne's bit-between-the-teeth performances in recent weeks suggest otherwise.
Guardiola almost never goes for sentiment, so if that stance continues then perhaps he will have to make an unpopular decision in one of the next two games - especially if he feels the turnaround is too tight. And that may mean De Bruyne misses out on a perfect sign off at Wembley or the perfect farewell at the Etihad.
Still, if there is a time for sentimentality then this feels like the opportunity to break with tradition. Wembley feels primed for one last dance with De Bruyne and De Bruyne is rarely one to turn down the dancefloor.
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