Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: Kevin De Bruyne has to decide on his future | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne must make his own decision on his Manchester City future, Pep Guardiola has insisted.

The 33-year-old will be out of contract in the summer after a decade with the club, during which time he has marked himself out as one of the best midfielders to have graced the Premier League.

But the Belgian’s powers appear to be on the wane and his performance in Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool drew criticism. He has played the full 90 minutes only seven times of an injury-disrupted season, starting 12 of 25 league games, scoring two goals and adding six assists.

De Bruyne has been linked with a potentially lucrative move to Major League Soccer, but could also stay with City for another campaign, albeit almost certainly with a reduced role and a salary to reflect it.

Last week Guardiola spoke about his close relationship with a player who joined City a year before he did.

But when asked if that relationship will be key to any decision on De Bruyne’s future, Guardiola said: “Nothing is going to change about that. Of course we know each other quite well and we are quite honest with that.

“I think in that situation he has to decide, that is the most important thing. He’s completely honest with himself, to decide what he feels and what he can do in the next period of his life. He’s 34 in the summer and he has to decide, like what happened with David Silva for example.”

De Bruyne is one of several of City’s older generation with question marks over their futures amid reports of a potential clear-out this summer as part of an ongoing rebuild.

But Guardiola, who has always been known for preferring to work with a small squad, admitted the increasing pressures of the fixture list mean that he wants to go into next season with more depth, and that will mean keeping some of those more experienced heads around.

“The club has to sign players but at the same time the club has to keep the players we have as much as possible,” he said. “Because with the (Club) World Cup and then immediately (next) season, it will be even tougher next season. We need a little bit bigger squad next year.”

Guardiola is optimistic that John Stones could return this season as the defender does not need surgery on the thigh injury he suffered in last week’s Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid.

In Stones’ absence, January signing Abdukodir Khusanov partnered Nathan Ake in central defence on Sunday, with Guardiola revealing it was a tactical decision to leave Ruben Dias on the bench until he replaced Ake in the 77th minute.

“He came from injury and we wanted a bit more pace from Khusanov and a left-footer on the left side,” Guardiola said.

“Ruben is massively important for us as a player and a character, many many things. He has been a key player for this period but sometimes I decide for our players.”