De Bruyne was asked what he would write in a letter to the KDB that was about to walk through the doors of the Etihad 10 years ago.
And his answer was telling, insisting ‘just do what you did!’.
The 33-year-old enjoyed the sensational highs of lifting 19 major trophies, among them that all-important 2023 UEFA Champions League in Istanbul.
But he also suffered devastating lows, like losing his other UCL final to Chelsea two years previously as well as failing to add to his tally of honours courtesy of defeat to Crystal Palace in this year’s FA Cup final.
But through it all, KDB insists it’s been a wonderful period in his life and career.
“I am happy with the way my life went here,” he said.
“There are obviously ups and downs in that period, there’s success, failure, injuries, whatever.
“But you have to take that and also you learn from things that go hard sometimes so you can’t expect everything to go 100% all the time.
“So I am very happy with the way I have been as a person and a player and I would say I am still an old school football guy, I play on intuition and creativity and passion and I am happy with that.”
Watch KDB’s departure interview in the video player above.
