We told him to go: Guardiola admits Man City played big role in De Bruyne exit

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he and key officials at the club made the decision to let Kevin De Bruyne go after 10 successful years.

De Bruyne was reportedly open to staying at City, even with a reduced role, but Guardiola and outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain chose not to offer him a new contract as part of their ongoing squad rebuild.

Guardiola explained,

"The decision has been made for the club, and the club is the club. Me, Txiki, and the club, so this is what it is."

He added, "The club has to move forward, move on, and replicating this kind of player is so difficult. But yeah, these are the qualities and things we have to find."

Guardiola's comments confirm that City are looking to rebuild and find new players to replace De Bruyne's unique qualities.

There have been several names touted as potential replacements for the outgoing Belgian, including Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons and Bayern Munich playmaker Jamal Musiala.

There are also in-house options like Phil Foden, and new arrival Omar Marmoush, who has been impressive since arriving at the Etihad.