The Belgian has been City's great creator since he joined the club seven years ago, and GOAL has picked the best 10 of his 121 assists to date
There was something fitting that Manchester City's 2022 title-winning goal would be created by Kevin De Bruyne.
In seven seasons in the Premier League, the brilliant Belgian has established himself as the king of the assists and potentially the competition's greatest creator of all time.
He is firmly established in the top 10 Premier League assist-makers of all time, and in the 2019-20 campaign equalled the record of Arsenal's Thierry Henry by creating 20 goals in a single season.
De Bruyne has 121 total assists for City, and GOAL has watched each and every one of them to discover which were the greatest 10…
Getty Images10Steaua Bucharest 5-0 (Nolito), August 16, 2016
Early in Pep Guardiola's reign, the movement and fluidity of City's attacking was just starting to take shape when they travelled to Romania.
The Champions League qualifier was crucial, but a potential disaster was averted with a ruthless display that has since become so familiar.
The pick of the goals was the third scored by the long-forgotten Nolito, expertly created by De Bruyne.
A slight miscontrol saw De Bruyne cut inside from the edge of the box before flicking a perfect pass between three defenders with precision timing to beat the offside trap and leave Nolito with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Aesthetics (rating out of 10): 6
Difficulty: 7
Importance: 4
AdvertisementGetty Images9Club Brugge 5-1 (Walker), October 19, 2021
De Bruyne returned to Belgium to play a club game for the first time in nine years in 2021, and wanted to make the most of the experience.
“I’m excited to go back home, it’s the first time except for the national team since I left," he said, although an ankle injury had dogged his early season.
But after fluffing a couple of decent opportunities in front of goal in the first half, he went back to what he does best by providing a beautiful assist.
Exchanging passes with Riyad Mahrez, he drew two Brugge defenders towards him before slipping the ball in between the pair for the overlapping Kyle Walker to score.
Aesthetics: 8
Difficulty: 7
Importance: 3
Getty Images8Liverpool 5-0 (Aguero), September 9, 2017
City began to think their 'Centurions' season might be something special as early as September when they thrashed rivals Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
The opening goal was one of simplicity and elegance, created by De Bruyne and finished by Sergio Aguero.
Picking up a loose ball on the edge of the centre circle, De Bruyne quickly slid a ball through the heart of Liverpool's defence with a perfect weight that made it easy for Aguero to take the ball around Simon Mignolet.
Sadio Mane received a red card later before City ran amok, but the scene was set by the brilliantly-crafted opening goal.
Aesthetics: 7
Difficulty: 5
Importance: 7
Getty Images7Arsenal 2-1 (Sterling), December 18, 2016
Those who claim that De Bruyne has eyes in the back of his head will point to his brilliant assist against Arsenal that clinched a crucial three points just before Christmas 2016 as proof.
From a throw-in in their own half, De Bruyne stepped off the halfway line before drilling a 60-yard pass blindly from virtually one touchline to the other while clearing Nacho Monreal's head.
Sterling still had a lot to do before he slammed the ball past Petr Cech, helped by De Bruyne sprinting over in support to distract the Gunners defence.
But the vision and execution of the pass created the opportunity out of nothing and helped turn around a game that City had been losing.
Aesthetics: 6
Difficulty: 7
Importance: 7