Pep Guardiola - ‘Unique’ Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne only beaten by Lionel Messi as the best passer in football

Pep Guardiola discussed Kevin De Bruyne's passing ability ahead of the last home game of Manchester City's season, against Bournemouth at the Etihad against Bournemouth in the Premier League. The Spaniard praised De Bruyne's talent as second only to his former Barcelona player, Lionel Messi, while he cautioned that Jack Grealish's future is yet to be decided.

De Bruyne's passing is 'second only to Messi' - Guardiola

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes "unique" midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is only behind Lionel Messi in his passing ability, ahead of his farewell game.

City play Bournemouth on Tuesday evening at the Etihad, which will be the Belgian’s last chance to play for his current team at their home ground, before his contract expires at the end of the season.

The 33-year-old has not been offered a new deal to stay at City, and is yet to decide where he will ply his trade yet, with rumours he could stay in England, or make a big-money move to MLS or Saudi Arabia.

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Guardiola has worked with some exceptional passers over the course of his career, including Messi, as well as David Silva, Andres Iniestia and Xavi.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Bournemouth match, the Spaniard ranked De Bruyne in his all-time list.

"One is Messi," said Guardiola. "And the other two, let me think about it...OK, let me put Kevin second."

He continued: "Messi is the best I have ever seen because Messi has done it really, really close to the box, but Kevin is there. It's just the stats, the goals, the assists, that he provides to the team in the final third and the talent.

"That is unique, that is why he has been one of the best players this club has had in the whole history. These are big, big words because he has been a special player."

City have been linked with Florian Wirtz and Morgan Gibbs-White in recent weeks as potential replacements for De Bruyne, but Guardiola conceded that a direct replacement would be difficult to find.

He explained: "There are players who are really, really difficult [to replace] for many reasons, we know that.

"But the season we have done is the season we have done - we cannot deny it. Of course we have to move forward."

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Guardiola: ‘Agents and club’ will decide Grealish future

Guardiola also discussed midfielder Jack Grealish’s future at the club after he failed to make an appearance from the bench at the FA Cup final.

Grealish was overlooked in favour of giving a debut to 19-year-old Argentine Claudio Echeverri, and has made just 31 appearances this season, his lowest total since joining City in 2021.

The Catalan said the decision would rest with the club, including Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain, but suggested he was not playing enough minutes at the club.

Guardiola said: "We didn’t talk, I didn’t talk with him. People don’t believe me, but these things belong to the agents and the club and Txiki, and in this case, Hugo as well. Both will decide. What is going to happen will happen, but he has to come back to start to play minutes again."

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