Kevin De Bruyne has taken a step closer to a pathway into football management in the future, having been handed his UEFA A License alongside several of his Belgian teammates this week.
The 30-year-old Belgian, who helped Manchester City to their fourth Premier League title in five years this season, notched a career-high 15 goals and eight assists during the 2021/22 league campaign.
And while he was pulling the strings from midfield, De Bruyne was also busy studying for UEFA’s second highest coaching badge, both at home and at the Manchester City academy.
As per Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur, Kevin De Bruyne has been granted his UEFA A coaching license, alongside fellow national teammates including Youri Tielemans, Dries Mertens, Jan Vertonghen, Leandro Trossard, and Axel Witsel.
De Bruyne was taking training sessions with different age groups at City’s academy, according to The Daily Mail. And that vital coaching experience with youth teams, including the U16’s, contributed to passing his coaching licence.
The former Chelsea player has ambitions to pass on Pep Guardiola’s philosophy to future generations after his playing days are over.
“When you have worked with a man like Guardiola, you look at this sport in a totally different way,” he said via The Mirror last year. “For the sake of football in my home country Belgium it would be good to pass on all that knowledge.
The news of De Bruyne Takes Step Closer to Become Football Manager was shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the Man City supporters.
“Future City manager.”
Credit: @canceloimpact
“Pep replacement.”
Credit: @EJ10i
“Scenes when Pep leaves City in 2025 and his replacement is no other than Kevin De Bruyne himself who retires as a player to become City-manager 💙.”
Credit: @RealTalkMCFC
“So I think this confirms that after his playing career is over, Kev will become a coach. How incredible when you count players that become coaches under Pep. It must be inspiring to work for him.”
Credit: @La_Cityzen
“I can already tell he’ll be a crazy manager.”
Credit: @joaofinogarcia
“Excited to see what happens when the current core of City players retire. Pep Guardiola has not only created generations of players, he now has helped create a new generation of possible managers: Gundogan was also on his way to coaching, and that whilst remaining a player..”
Credit: @jdeposicion
“To do this, while maintaining the level of one of the best active footballers on the planet is very impressive..”
Credit: @restdefense
“I reckon he’d smash management..”
Credit: @mcfcsaltmine
