Kevin De Bruyne (29) drove the stats a bit in the score against Newcastle (5-0).
The Belgian will soon redeem a Belgian. Kevin De Bruyne succeeds Eden Hazard as assistant king in the Premier League.
There will be three more if he wants to wipe Thierry Henry from the record tables of the Premier League. He need Two more assists to equal Henry’s record and three to break it.
“Watch out, Thierry, I’ll come after you.” De Bruyne told him in September on the ‘testimonial’ of Vincent Kompany in Manchester. With a tongue-in-cheek. A wink. Henry immediately poked back. Challenge each other, tease each other like they did with the Red Devils. The player and assistant who was well in the group. “If he wants my record of 20 assists, he’ll have to score 24 times,” Henry said recently. “I told Kevin that too.” There is work to be done.
Henry’s assist record, Arsenal legend, has been on the tables for over 17 years – since 2003. Fabregas (18 in 2015), Özil (19 in 2016) and De Bruyne (18 in 2017) have already come close, but all three stranded in the last straight line. Also this season, De Bruyne sprinted away as Usain Bolt: when he spoke to Henry about it, he had five assists after four games, pace he couldn’t keep going. De Bruyne is the first Premier League player to score 18 assists or more in two seasons. He currently has a foot in 29 goals – 11 goals and 18 assists.
