Kevin De Bruyne will go down as one of the greatest player's in Manchester City's history having enjoyed a legendary decade at the Etihad Stadium where he honed his craft under the tutelage of arguably the greatest manager of the modern era in Pep Guardiola.
The Belgian playmaker won a total of 19 trophies with the Citizens between 2015 and 2025, including six Premier League titles, five EFL Cups and one Champions League as part of a historic treble in 2022-23.
De Bruyne also got his hands on two FA Cup trophies in 2019 and 2023, and England's most prestigious cup competition is one that De Bruyne certainly excelled in over the years.
© Imago
De Bruyne loved playing in the FA Cup!
The Belgian playmaker was named Man of the Match after starring in Man City's thumping 6-0 victory over Watford in the 2019 final - the joint-biggest win in FA Cup final history - while his 2023 success was part of the club's historic treble-winning campaign.
De Bruyne has made a total 34 appearances in the FA Cup, scoring 10 goals and registering 18 assists, playing a direct role in more goals than any other player in the competition (from the first round onwards) since his arrival in England a decade ago.
His nearest challenger (as of the end of the 2024-25 season) is Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min, who in the same period contributed to 26 goals (14 goals, 12 assists), while Phil Foden is third on the list with 21 goal contributions (12 goals, nine assists).
De Bruyne could have increased his impressive goal and assist tallies had he not missed seven FA Cup games through injury, while he has also watched on as an unused substitute on nine occasions over the years.
Cheeky at Cardiff, wonderful versus Watford
In his first season as a Man City player in 2015-16 under former boss Manuel Pellegrini, De Bruyne played just once in the FA Cup, coming off the bench to score his first goal in the competition in a 3-0 away win over Norwich City in the third round, before missing the fourth and fifth rounds through injury.
De Bruyne then took part in five of City's six FA Cup ties in the 2016-17 season when Guardiola's side reached the semi-finals, although this is the only campaign in which the playmaker was unable to contribute with a single goal or assist.
Man City's No.17 cheekily rolled a free kick under a jumping Cardiff City wall in a 2-0 fourth-round win in South Wales in 2017-18, but the Citizens were stunned by third-tier outfit Wigan Athletic (1-0) in the fifth round.
Both De Bruyne and Guardiola celebrated their first FA Cup triumph in 2018-19, though, with the Belgian chipping in with two goals and five assists across four matches, including one goal and one assist during a 35-minute cameo appearance off the bench in the aforementioned win over Watford in the final.
De Bruyne was either injured or benched for the first three rounds of the 2019-20 FA Cup, but he returned for the 2-0 quarter-final win at Newcastle United in which he netted a first-half penalty, before City suffered defeat to Arsenal by the same scoreline in the semi-finals.
The Belgian wore the captain's armband as he teed up Bernardo Silva for his second goal in a 3-0 third-round win at home to Birmingham City in 2020-21, before missing the next two rounds due to injury, but he returned to score a late second in a 2-0 quarter-final win at Everton. City again suffered semi-final heartache, though, this time to De Bruyne's former side Chelsea (1-0).
Man City's assist king continues to thrive in the FA Cup
In 2021-22, De Bruyne assisted three goals across two 4-1 victories over Swindon Town and Fulham in the third and fourth rounds respectively, before converting a penalty in City's fifth-round win against Southampton (another 4-1 win). He was then left on the bench as the Citizens lost 3-2 to Liverpool in the semi-finals.
De Bruyne then played a key role in City's triumphant 2022-23 FA Cup campaign, scoring a delightful long-range curler in a 3-0 fifth-round win at Bristol City before assisting two goals in a 6-0 thrashing of Burnley in the quarter-finals, and both of Ilkay Gundogan's iconic volleys in the first-ever all-Manchester derby FA Cup final (a 2-1 win for City over Manchester United).
Man City's assist king set up another five goals in the 2023-24 FA Cup, including four in an action-packed 6-2 victory against Luton Town in the fifth round - De Bruyne assisted the first three of Erling Haaland's five goals scored at Kenilworth Road.
In 2024-25, De Bruyne contributed to three goals (two goals, one assist) in four FA Cup appearances, firstly netting the winning goal as a substitute in a 2-1 comeback victory over League One side Leyton Orient in the fourth round.
De Bruyne then assisted an equalising goal from O'Reilly before scoring City's third as Guardiola's men came from behind again to beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 at the Etihad in the fifth round.
After drawing a blank, albeit having played well, in City's 2-1 quarter-final win at Bournemouth last month, De Bruyne watched on as an unused substitute as City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the semi-finals, before playing the full 90 minutes as captain in his last Citizens outing at Wembley in the final - a narrow 1-0 defeat to first-time champions Crystal Palace.
Oliver Thomas
