A tear rolled down Pep Guardiola’s cheek. Kevin de Bruyne had been given the guard of honour by his teammates, seen the montage on the big screen of some of his magnificent moments over the last decade. Then came the videoed tributes from the men who are part of his, and Guardiola’s, past: from Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany, from Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, from Fernandinho and Pablo Zabaleta. He just about kept his own emotions in check.
An era ended with a mosaic of De Bruyne unveiled at the training ground and a statue of him commissioned to stand outside the Etihad Stadium. The Manchester City faithful had taken a break from incessant chants of his name to chorus that they wanted him to stay. “I’ll always be around,” said arguably the outstanding player in the ground’s history. Just in bronze and not on the pitch.
