admin Kevin De Bruyne will be looking to break Cesc Fabregas’s Premier League assist record when Manchester City welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The 32-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest playmakers to have ever graced the Premier League since joining the Citizens from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015.
De Bruyne was sidelined for the first five months of the campaign with a torn hamstring, but he has since made an impressive impact in Pep Guardiola’s side since the turn of the year.
Despite playing in less than half of Man City’s 54 matches in all competitions this season, De Bruyne has still contributed to 21 goals in just 19 games, scoring six times and registering 15 assists.
City’s No.17 set up both goals in last weekend’s 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, taking his assist total for the season to eight – only four behind Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in the race for the Playmaker award.
De Bruyne’s two assists at the City Ground was the 18th time that the Belgian has registered multiple assists in a Premier League match, the most of any player in the division’s history.
De Bruyne on verge of surpassing Fabregas assist record
De Bruyne currently sits third on the Premier League’s all-time assist list with 110 from 256 appearances, seven clear of Wayne Rooney (107) whom he surpassed in January.
Should the Belgian register one assist against Wolves on Saturday, he will move into joint-second alongside former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Fabregas, who notched up a total of 111 assists across his 350 Premier League appearances.
De Bruyne will move ahead of Fabregas into second place outright if he provides at least two assists against Wolves or across any of City’s next three Premier League games this season.
It seems only a matter of time before De Bruyne overtakes Fabregas into second place, although if he fails to do so this season, there are no guarantees that he will achieve it in 2024-25 if reports of a potential summer switch to either Saudi Arabia or MLS are to be believed.
Meanwhile, De Bruyne is still some way behind Ryan Giggs at the top of the assist charts; the former Manchester United winger registered 162 assists during his time at Old Trafford.
Fabregas talks up De Bruyne qualities
Earlier this year, Fabregas was full of praise for De Bruyne after he made his long-awaited comeback from injury, and the Spaniard believes that the “special” City man has the attributes to morph into a deep-lying midfielder in the future.
Speaking on the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast, Fabregas said: “He’s like a little boy with new shoes, he’s excited, he comes with a lot of hunger.
“I know him, the way he plays, that physicality, that stride when he has the ball and he starts running. But also he’s one of these players who can adapt in the future.
“When he starts losing his physicality and speed, he will be able to play in midfield I have no doubt, in a double pivot for example next to Rodri and runs things from there – that’s what special and intelligent players do when they get older and they are not as sharp as they used to be.”
De Bruyne has a impressive record against City’s next opponents Wolves, as he has registered five goals and five assists in eight Premier League meetings, including three assists in two matches last season.
However, the Belgian was injured when Man City suffered a 2-1 defeat to Gary O’Neil’s side at Molineux earlier this season.
