In the assist charts spanning the past 30 years, Kevin De Bruyne is currently ranked behind only Lionel Messi and one unexpected name.
Kevin De Bruyne has been instrumental in Manchester City’s pursuit of the Premier League title, even though he was sidelined for the first five months of the season due to injury.
The season began on opening day, but the Belgian midfielder’s second appearance of the year didn’t come until January due to a serious hamstring injury.
De Bruyne hasn’t been at the top of his game consistently since coming back from such a long layoff, which makes sense.
But over the last four months, the 32-year-old has put up some extremely impressive numbers, despite a few subpar games thrown in.
With 21 appearances across all competitions this season, De Bruyne has more assists (15) than any other Premier League player.
The stars that are closest to him on the charts, like Darwin Nunez and Bukayo Saka, have appeared in twice as many games as he has.
De Bruyne has risen up the rankings yet again thanks to his late-season output.
The City star now trails only Lionel Messi and former winger Luis Figo of Barcelona and Real Madrid in terms of assists over the past 30 years.
Messi is still playing for Inter Miami and Argentina, so it’s unlikely that his 366 career assists will ever be surpassed.
With 283 assists during his time playing for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Portugal, Figo is ranked second in the charts.
With 282 career assists, De Bruyne has a good chance of passing Figo before the season is out.
His most recent assists came on Sunday during City’s 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. First, he set up Josko Gvardiol for the goal, and then he slipped Erling Haaland in for the second goal.
