Rico Lewis: Everyone will miss Kevin De Bruyne when he’s gone, it’s going to be different without him | OneFootball

Rico Lewis has lifted the lid on the mood within the Manchester City dressing room since Kevin De Bruyne confirmed he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Lewis and De Bruyne starred as Manchester City came from two goals behind to secure a convincing and much-needed 5-2 drubbing of Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace side at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts were two goals down 21 minutes in but a stunning free-kick from De Bruyne revitalised Pep Guardiola’s men before a strike each from Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic and academy graduate duo James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly did the damage for the Blues.

De Bruyne spoke at length after the game on his first home outing since the announcement on his future, keeping the door open on staying on in the English top-flight when he finishes a trophy-laden, 10-year spell at the Etihad Stadium.

“It’s going to be different without him (De Bruyne). With Kevin, it’s such a big story and again he showed his quality. Everyone will miss him when he’s gone,” said Lewis in a post-match interview, as quoted by Andy Hampson writing for PA.

It remains to be seen where De Bruyne will land in the summer amid interest from the Major League Soccer and Saudi Pro League, with the 33-year-old Belgian believed to prefer a move to the United States keeping his family and the future of his Manchester-born children in mind.

City made a drab start to the win against Palace at the weekend, completely outplayed by the Eagles and lucky to escape a three-goal deficit when Eberechi Eze cleverly found the bottom corner after cutting in only to be adjudged offside – much to Guardiola’s relief.

“Not that we didn’t know much about ourselves already but I think we’ve shown ourselves we can still play well and do well under pressure, even when maybe we seem at our lowest at some points,” Lewis said on City’s performance against Palace.

By virtue of their own victory and results elsewhere, the reigning Premier League champions climbed to fifth place in the table with six games left to play in their bid to secure UEFA Champions League football for the 2025-26 campaign.

Lewis added: “It’s massive for the confidence. It sends a message out to everyone else as well that we’re focused – we’ve got our goal and we’re going to achieve it.”