In late October 2023, on the sidelines of a Cheshire grassroots pitch, Kevin De Bruyne is quietly observing his young son Mason play. Keeping to himself, as he usually does.

It’s the night of the Ballon d’Or, an evening when Manchester City, fresh from their Treble victory, are to be celebrated in style at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. De Bruyne has opted to stay back. Award ceremonies aren’t really his scene, especially since they’ve heard that Lionel Messi has edged out Erling Haaland.

He casually shares this information with another parent beside him. But, as often happens in the world of football and pleasant coincidences, this parent turns out to be Jon Bell, son of Colin, the King of the Kippax. Their kids have sometimes been teammates in the same junior squad. The idea of Bell and De Bruyne together is something to ponder.

There is no real use comparing them in a debate about who City’s finest ever player is – many who saw Bell and the wartime goalscoring machine Peter Doherty considered the latter as untouchable, for example – but the club must realise there are only two potential post-war names for that gong, with a special mention to David Silva.

De Bruyne and Bell Jnr have discussed comparisons together – even down to standing ovations when returning from injuries – and both have shrugged them off. The pair of them are quite matter of fact in that way. Yet the two are intrinsically linked, extended hands from one bunch of title winners to the next, with De Bruyne becoming the first City player since Bell five decades ago to score 100 goals from midfield.

‘The kids think it’s awesome that their grandfather is compared to someone held in such high regard,’ Bell says. ‘Dad’s response would be: Kevin’s his own man, he wouldn’t know me from Adam.’

It is no accident that De Bruyne wears a crown on the tifo made for him, shown before a disappointing display at Wembley on Saturday. That Haaland donated €5,000 towards that shows the depth of feeling the squad have for such a unique talent. None of them want him gone.

Here they are regardless as De Bruyne bids farewell to the Etihad Stadium after Tuesday’s crucial game against Bournemouth. A proper celebration of a decade of domination, akin to Vincent Kompany’s in 2019, is the least he deserves.

He will receive the lifetime season ticket presented by the Bell family and signed keepsakes, the send-off on the pitch with a lightshow before plans for lasting immortalisations are announced.

The nature of the after-match goodbyes may hinge on the result but there is an expectation that De Bruyne’s emotions will take over, for this is not the end he had hoped for. The best midfielder since the Premier League’s inception had sensed he would be signing another 12-month contract but, given wages of close to £400,000 a week, City saw things differently. ‘A bit of the soul of the team is going,’ Bernardo Silva said. ‘It’s sad.’

Initially he couldn’t easily accept the news when it was delivered to him in late March. He had been under the impression that the future was his to determine. Over the weeks since, he has started to engage with the club’s ideas for the final goodbye, although it’s understood a board member had to make a phone call to talk through his grievances.

Sources say the absence of his wife, Michele, at the FA Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest was noticeable. The family never usually miss a game.

A realist and a pragmatist, he is now making peace with the decision while fielding interest from across Europe and beyond.

This is not the De Bruyne we once knew though. It’s a De Bruyne capable of moments but one who, sadly, no longer appears to possess the physicality to operate at full tilt three times a week. And from what we know and what friends say about him, if De Bruyne can’t properly impact the team then he is somewhat bereft within himself.

But what a supreme talisman he has been. The Chelsea reject, the waste of money, the man whose arrival prompted incredulity from ex-Liverpool defender Phil Thompson to the extent of him seemingly being unable to spit his words out on Soccer Saturday.

The weird kid once told by a host family at Genk not to come back, because of ‘who you are’, has made England his home and had a throne flown over for good measure. The patriarch of the Premier League house.

He’s a throwback and they don’t make them like Kevin De Bruyne anymore. Charging everywhere, tomato faced, puffing in a way that makes you think hey, maybe I could do that. But no, obviously not.

Not with that mixture of finesse and true raw power. He sees things we’ll never see. De Bruyne has this way of making you feel, stirring emotions when you watch him grace a football pitch that very few can or will replicate.

He has driven games himself – think Arsenal at home in the Treble season, the four goals at Wolves in 2022, the assist against Stoke City, the howitzers at Chelsea, the free-kick at Leicester, those endless raking crosses for Erling Haaland’s long limbs, the performances against Real Madrid.

That corner at Liverpool for John Stones. Giving David de Gea the eyes at Old Trafford. The unbelievable cameo at Newcastle last season after six months out following hamstring surgery.

Refusing to label him a genius, worrying of hyperbole, would be a sin.

The hamstring, the ‘wet paper towel’ as De Bruyne’s surgeons described it, effectively put paid to the idea that he would end his career in these parts. It’s easy to forget the sacrifices De Bruyne put his body through during the run-in two years ago.

He damaged the hamstring in a Champions League quarter-final at Bayern Munich, only to be back bossing that title decider with Arsenal seven days later, scoring twice. 

Regular ultrasounds, barely training, picking and choosing matches, dragged him to the end. He went above and beyond and the muscle eventually snapped in Istanbul.

The six months out softened his character, according to those around him – although staff still joke about his grumpiness. ‘He’s absolutely hilarious when you get to know him,’ one said. ‘The biggest challenge is to get into that inner circle.’

Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk and Raheem Sterling are three lodged in there – all part of the Cheshire footballing belt. Sterling’s family, with sons similar ages, spend plenty of time with the De Bruynes. They’ve been to Dubai together long after Sterling left for Chelsea.

De Bruyne, in a sense, is something of a paradox. Horizontally zen at home, fearsome and a little huffy at work. Guardiola had to manage his needs very specifically and De Bruyne, says one source, doesn’t much like being challenged. He’s never afraid of sharing his views either, which Guardiola has found out intermittently.

He can be sitting with friends and drift off into his own thoughts, doing calculations in his head about how much they should be in ice, what they should be eating. 

‘Obsessive,’ one said. A bit like his boss, then. They’re not exactly mates but the mutual respect is through the roof between the boss and the King.