Will Kevin De Bruyne Strike During Return To Manchester? Belgian Boasts Strong Record Against Former Sides
Kevin De Bruyne will return to the Etihad for the first time since leaving Manchester City, as Napoli take on Pep Guardiola’s side in the Champions League – but does the Belgian usually perform against his former clubs? The Belgian international decided to bring his time in Manchester to an end after almost a decade […]
Louis Fargher
Updated on 16 September 2025
Kevin De Bruyne will return to the Etihad for the first time since leaving Manchester City, as Napoli take on Pep Guardiola’s side in the Champions League – but does the Belgian usually perform against his former clubs?
The Belgian international decided to bring his time in Manchester to an end after almost a decade with the Cityzens, as De Bruyne swapped the sky blue of City to the sky blue of Napoli.
During his time in Manchester, De Bruyne made 422 appearances and contributed to 295 goals (108G + 177A), while also winning six Premier League titles, five Carabao Cups, two FA Cups and Champions League.
De Bruyne left as one of the best Premier League players of all-time and is now showing signs of this for Napoli, despite joining the Serie A champions at 34-years-old.
Napoli’s first Champions League fixture takes place in De Bruyne’s previous home, so we decided to look into how well the Belgian has done against former sides.
Kevin De Bruyne Record Against Former Clubs
* only includes stats after De Bruyne had played for the respective club
Chelsea
- Appearances: 22
- Goals: 5
- Assists: 1
Kevin De Bruyne signed for Chelsea from Genk in January 2012, before heading back to Belgium on loan for the remainder of the 2011/12 season.
The Belgian was then sent out on loan again for the 2012/13 season, playing for Werder Bremen and returned to Stamford Bridge in June 2013 to become a first-team player at Stamford Bridge.
However, after just nine appearances for the Blues, De Bruyne decided to make a permanent exit in the 2014 January transfer window, joining Wolfsburg for around €22 million.
After an impressive spell in Germany, De Bruyne returned to England with Manchester City in August 2015 and began to take vengeance against Chelsea.
After three Premier League appearances against Chelsea without a goal, De Bruyne returned to Stamford Bridge and scored a superb left-footed striker from range to secure three-points in City’s centurions season.
His most prolific spell against the Blues came between 2019-2021, as the Belgian international scored in both league matches in 2019/20, before providing a goal and assist in their opening meeting in 2020/21.
De Bruyne scored the winning goal against the Blues in a 1-0 victory once again in January 2022, which was his final Premier League goal against Chelsea – failing to score or assist in his last five appearances against the Blues.
Interestingly, De Bruyne made six appearances against Chelsea outside of the Premier League and failed to register a single goal contribution – while also losing all three of his Champions League clashes against the Blues.
#OnThisDay in 2017, ‘CHELSEA REJECT’ Kevin De Bruyne smashed the ball past Courtois to deliver a crucial win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge! ??
pic.twitter.com/7aXgYPI4SL— City Report (@cityreport_) September 29, 2024
Werder Bremen
- Appearances: 2
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 4
Scoring goals is the most important aspect of soccer, but Kevin De Bruyne is known primarily for his ability to provide assists, which has been slightly impacted in Naples following Romelu Lukaku’s injury.
This quality to create was made evident during his time with Wolfsburg and despite spending a brief period in Germany, De Bruyne managed to haunt his former side in just two appearances, playing against Werder Bremen twice during the 2014/15 Bundesliga season.
In September 2014, the genius midfielder set-up Ricardo Rodriguez for the opening goal of a 2-1 victory for Wolfsburg and this was his third assist of the season after just six matches.
Three assists after six appearances would be impressive for most players in the Bundesliga, however, De Bruyne decided to turn it up a notch by registering three in one game when Wolfsburg met Werder Bremen in the reverse fixture.
Wolfsburg picked up a 5-3 victory away from home, despite going behind on two sepearate occasions and KDB provided an assist to bring the game to 2-2, the another to make it 3-3 and then set-up Bas Dost for the winning goal.
Louis Fargher
Louis has been an avid soccer enthusiast for multiple years and boasts knowledge across several leagues in Europe - including Serie A. Louis holds a degree in Soccer Journalism and has produced content for multiple clubs in the United Kingdom.
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