How do you replace one of the greatest midfielder in the history of the Premier League? Well, this is the not enviable question with which Manchester City is now facing each other.
After a decade of exceptional service, Kevin de Bruyne will leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the current campaign. The Belgian was instrumental in Pep Guardiola’s All-Eberoberner city team, which dominates English football, and he will leave a transformative figure in the Premier League.
In the past two years, injuries have limited the effects of de Bruyne in the past two years, since Father Time’s cruel gray, but memories of Mesmeri midfield exhibitions are a surprisingly precise spread, thunderbolts from reach and effortless 30 yard tracks.
But that is the challenge that the city and its recruitment team have to overcome when they initiate a new era. It may be impossible to find a similar replacement, but there are a number of breathtaking midfield talents across Europe that could help fill the gap.
There is no club on world football that is not improved by Florian Wirtz’s presence. The climb of the 21-year-old with Bayer Leverkusen was amazing and despite his delicate age, he has already accumulated almost 200 appearances at the Werkelf. An ACL injury threatened to derail his early development, but the attacking midfielder has come back impressively.
Wirtz was an integral part of Leverkusen’s historical, unbeaten double last season. He achieved 18 in all competitions 19 when Xabi Alonso hit a swamp side around him. The young German international’s preference seems to make space out of the air, and his relentless performance makes him one of the most impressive forces in Europe.
It is not surprising that such consistently outstanding services can already be the attention of the city – including – and Wirtz can certainly be a generation talent that can continue the legacy of de Bruyne. Although they do not have identical players in any way, they have an excellent distribution, an underestimated mobility and an eye for destination as a core attributes.
Wirtz’s enormous price tag – with a fairly certain certainty over 100 million GBP – is the only disadvantage for an extraordinary addition.
Speaking of precious Bundesliga talents, enter Xavi Simons. The Dutch eventually secured a constant outcome in Paris Saint-Germain during the last winter transmission window when he continued his conspicuous development with RB Leipzig.
After the speculation had made 23 goal contributions with the German team last season, it raged over significant Bavarian interests about the long-term future of the attacking midfielder last summer. However, such a transfer discussion did not end the permanent signing at Leipzig in front of the upcoming window, and the Premier League was advertised as its next goal.
City would be naive to ignore Simons as a potential heritage of de Bruynes throne. The versatile 21-year-old, who is easy to see even in wide positions, has a natural flair that is simply not taught, and although in his development it is a little behind the Jamal Musiala by Wirtz and Bavaria, the sky remains the border for the Netherlands International.
Simons boasts de Bruyne’s ability to effortlessly float over the lawn and to escape the opposition challenges with proper footwork and quick changes in direction. For the Youngster, too, goals and templates are commonplace for young people, which could be available this summer at an affordable price of approx. 60 million GBP – a much cheaper alternative to Wirtz.
Morgan Rogers showed signs of a promise in the first half of the year in the Aston Villa, but he exceeded all expectations during his first complete campaign in the West Midlands. The unusual management skills of Unai Emery have earned the attacking midfielder, who also feels comfortable, deserves his first English caps and violated 20 goal contributions in all competitions at club level.
But City already knew about the immense potential of Rogers in front of his Villa counter. The 22-year-old spent four years at Guardiola’s side at the beginning of his career, although he did not appear on Middlesbrough in 2023. Six months after his arrival at the Riverside Stadium, Villa had seen enough to convince her. They sprayed Rogers in Janon’s 2024 £ 15 million GBP and has not looked back since then.
Rogers would not be an out-out replacement for de Bruyne. The couple are very different individuals and do not quite prove the same rooms, although the Villa star has introduced its versatility under Emery. But there were only a few attacking midfielder this season more devastating than Rogers, who has the tireless work rate to meet his incredible technical skills.
Rogers is not the only Englishman who sparkles ten roles in Midlands in number. Morgan Gibbs-White enjoys another successful campaign with Nottingham Forest, which is intended this season to secure the qualification of the surprise champions League. You could even win the FA Cup if you handle the city in the semi -finals.
Gibbs-White was an essential part of the astonishing campaign from Forest, even if a fairly modest record of five goals and seven assists does not necessarily jump off the side. In contrast to Wirtz, Simons and Rogers, the Forest Star can operate as a more defensive presence in a well-organized Nuno Espirito Santo page. No passengers are worn by the ball on the city site.
But Gibbs-White is still known for its attacking creativity and finds space between the lines and passes to fast, agile wings. The city was in its 1-0 defeat against Forest in early March at the beginning of March when a debruyne-like ball was defined by the ball and finally converted by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Accordingly The athleteGibbs White is one of those who are rated as a potential de Bruyne replacement this summer -in addition to the Wirtz mentioned above. There is no reason why the 25-year-old can no longer bloom under Guardiola.