A tearful Kevin De Bruyne bid farewell to Manchester City as he brought the curtain down on his 10-year spell at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
On an evening of raw emotion, the brilliant Belgian - a six-time Premier League champion - was unable to add to his 72 top-flight goals for City, but nonetheless played a part as Pep Guardiola's side moved to within one point of UEFA Champions League qualification with their 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth.
Having to leave the action early in a tactical switch following a red card to team-mate Mateo Kovacic, De Bruyne received a rousing ovation from the fans and hugs from manager Guardiola.
When he returned to pitch after the match for a special presentation, players, staff, the management team and supporters united in paying tribute to arguably one of the finest midfielders to grace the Premier League.
Joined by his partner Michele and three children, De Bruyne returned to the pitch, receiving a guard of honour from his team-mates, before watching a montage on the big screen as the home fans chanted his name.
Further messages from former team-mates including Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero paid tribute to him, both personally and professionally.
De Bruyne was fighting back tears when he was handed a microphone to address the crowd, while Guardiola was tearful too when it was announced that his midfield talisman would be honoured with a statute outside the stadium.
"I'm very emotional," said De Bruyne. "It means [having a statue] I'll always be part of this club and I'll represent a small piece. Whenever I come back I'll be able to see myself standing around so I'll always be here.
"Manchester is home, it is where my kids were born.
"I came here with my wife to stay for a long time, didn't expect it to be 10 years, to do what we've done as a club. We've won everything, we made the club bigger and now they're going to take over."
During his decade in Manchester, apart from his six Premier League titles, the 33-year-old was crowned Premier League Player of the Season twice, in 2019/20 and 2021/22, and also won the Playmaker award for the most assists in a season three times, in 2017/18, 2019/20 and 2022/23.
The 20 goals he created in 2019/20 is also a joint-record for assists in a season, a feat he shares with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
"I wanted to play with creativity, I wanted to play with passion," he added. "I wanted to enjoy football and I hope, I think, everybody enjoyed it."
When asked how he wanted to be remembered by fans, De Bruyne's answer was simple, "With joy," he said.
De Bruyne was left in no doubt how deep the affection and regard is for him among City fans.
As he led his team on a final lap of appreciation chants of "We want you to stay, Kevin De Bruyne, we want you to stay," rang out out from supporters, as De Bruyne made an exit for one last time down the tunnel at the Etihad.
