Kevin De Bruyne would happily be part of Manchester City’s rebuild. Should he be?

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“You have to read between the lines, you know?,” Kevin De Bruyne said as he stood in the tight corridors of Goodison Park on Saturday evening.

Manchester City had just beaten Everton 2-0 in one of the last games at the famous old stadium, and there was De Bruyne, discussing the final period of his career with his current employers. He announced two weeks ago that he would be leaving City when his contract expires at the end of the season, but what was not immediately obvious from his words was that the decision was not his.

City manager Pep Guardiola revealed later that same afternoon it had been the club’s call but, even then, it felt like an amicable, even logical, conclusion to a decade at the Etihad for the Belgium international forward.

As the days have passed, though, it has become more and more obvious that De Bruyne not only feels that he has what it takes to be part of the much-anticipated City rebuild, even though he turns 34 in June, but that he is not entirely happy about how things have been handled.

After he inspired City to a 5-2 comeback home win against Crystal Palace last Saturday, he hinted as much while talking to Norwegian media. Later in the week, there was a report in Belgian outlet De Standaard that De Bruyne now has a “clouded relationship” with City’s hierarchy, as he had been expecting a new deal.

When he talked about “reading between the lines”, it seemed to be advice to himself, but it also served as a steer to those of us who decoded everything he said during a post-match interview that ran for over eight minutes — which is quite a while for such discussions.

De Bruyne during the game against Everton (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

He had been asked whether, in light of his standing ovation from the Goodison crowd, people might be being nice to him now, knowing he would not be around to torment them and their team for much longer.

“Sometimes, yeah, sometimes no,” he said. “You have to read between the lines, you know? I’m a football person, I’m a bit no-nonsense, so sometimes I just say what I think, and people sometimes appreciate that, sometimes they don’t — but at this moment, I’m happy with the way I am and I take it as it is.”

De Bruyne has certainly been known for saying what he thinks — he once told Guardiola to shut up during a match, and has no doubt done so a few more times in training — and it would not be too much of a stretch to imagine that he has made his true feelings abundantly clear in private. Even in public, he has now said enough.

“Obviously, the club took a decision,” he said, when asked about that story in Belgium, outlining his unhappiness. “I have not had any offer the whole year, they just took a decision. I was a bit surprised but I have to accept it. It’s fine. Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level, like I’m showing. I understand clubs have to make decisions.”

Footballers usually do not want to speak after matches, but there are rare circumstances when they go out of their way to, and this felt like one of them.

As soon as De Bruyne emerged from the door leading to the Goodison changing rooms, he shuffled towards the small pen housing us journalists, whereas most of his team-mates had already filed out to the bus, eyes down.

He said the club had told him of their decision a few days before he’d made the news public on Friday, April 4, and that it had come as a shock. He was not with his family at the time and had still not seen them by the time of the Palace match, as they were away on holiday. But he did speak of his “relief” at putting out his statement — one that seemed to catch City on the hop.

And having given a non-committal answer to the idea of playing on in the Premier League for another club when asked last weekend — “Honestly, I don’t know. Nothing can be decided in one week in the football world” — he seems more open to it now.

But as he talked, the thing that was most striking, apart from his annoyance with the situation, was that he came across as a man still searching for answers. He does have one theory, though: that City’s fall from grace this season impacted the thinking of their top brass.

“It’s also basically why they’ve made the decision, because the whole team have struggled,“ De Bruyne said. “Maybe if the team didn’t struggle and I came back like I did this year and bedded in like normal, then maybe they would take another decision. I don’t know — they told me what the decision was and I can’t say what they think on the inside.

Guardiola hugs De Bruyne as he is substituted late in yesterday’s match (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

“I still think I’m in good shape, I played way more than I did last year, except (for) the hernia. I feel good and the rhythm is coming.”

His performance against Palace was a proper throwback; he did not just provide a flash or two of brilliance, he put the team on his shoulders and inspired the whole turnaround. It prompted supporters, especially in light of that Belgian report, to hit out at the club’s decision, and begged the question: what if his obvious struggles this season are not permanent? What if he is shaking off some rustiness and is about to return to his best?

De Bruyne was asked about that and, despite his confidence that he can still play at the top level, he seemed to struggle to find the right words.

“Yeah, I like to play football, I like to compete,” he said. “That’s what I feel, so I can’t say I want to quit, because I still feel like whenever I’m in training, I want to beat the guys. I feel like I’m doing really well and I think that’s why I also play a lot lately. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Given his insistence that he can continue to play for City beyond this season and the obvious conclusion that he does not seem ready to go, it began to feel incongruous that he was standing there fielding questions, at the age of 33, about his career winding down, getting a standing ovation from opponents and generally riding a wave of nostalgia.

“It’s a bit weird, because it’s still a short time,” he said about that juxtaposition. “But I don’t know, after the decision was made, when I came out (and released the statement) it was more of a relief than when I knew and nobody (else) knew, because you don’t know what to do with the emotion with everybody and you don’t know how to handle it at the club.

“But now it’s out, it’s fine. I think people see the way that I am. I tried to do my best for the club, I try to win the games for the team, I try to do my job. I love playing football, so that’s it.”

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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