Erling Haaland’s status as Man City’s top dog summed up by Kevin De Bruyne admission

Kevin De Bruyne may still be the Manchester City star most important to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering squad, but the Belgian admits he is no longer the club’s biggest superstar.

Kevin De Bruyne may be a hero to Manchester City fans – but he is no longer the star man in his own home.

De Bruyne’s three children – Mason, Rome and Suri – idolise their father, but he has been overtaken as their favourite player by City goal machine Erling Haaland.

Seven-year-old Mason, in particular, is a huge Haaland fan, wearing a shirt with the name of City’s No.9 on the back and even growing his hair in the same style as the prolific forward.

Mason had a kick around with Haaland on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium after City clinched the title a fortnight ago, with his father relaxed about no longer being his eldest’s football idol.

“It’s not a problem,” said a smiling De Bruyne. “All three of my kids have long hair. Erling is a superstar.

“I see it in the kids at my son’s school. They all have hair like that. It’s funny. This year all my children started to take an interest in soccer. They participate in more matches.

“They are starting to play football themselves. Especially my eldest son is starting to understand what is going on little by little. He wants to come to more games. He came to see Bayern. He experiences it more and begins to enjoy it.

The only trophy missing from De Bruyne’s huge success at City is the Champions League, but the 31-year-old refuses to add it to himself.

Asked if winning the Champions League would be the greatest relief for him or if he would not have to worry about ending his career without a Champions League, De Bruyne grinned: Said. “That question is 100% correct.

“But we haven’t won yet. I’ve been here for eight years and it’s been great. Can I come here and think how many games and trophies I can win in eight years? Probably yes.

“But we try to win every game, every trophy we can, and I think we have had a very impressive career at City. But that’s what we haven’t won yet and we want to win. I hope it will be Saturday.

“I think one day when my career is over I will look back on what I have achieved. Right now I don’t have time to think about it. not.

Despite his continued brilliance and influence at City, this season has seen manager Pep Guardiola criticize De Bruyne for getting the best out of his chief playmaker. .

“It’s not a problem for me,” said De Bruyne. “Sometimes I think it comes down to something a player or a coach said. I’m here.

“It’s the same argument we had during the match against Real Madrid (when De Bruyne Guardiola said ‘shut up!’)”.

“A lot has been written about it, but we will never talk about it here again.” These are the moments between competitive people. I think that’s fine. Everyone just wants to win. “