Pep Guardiola believes Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best three or five players in Manchester City's history but is not sure if the Belgian will still be at the club next season.

De Bruyne scored late to round off City's 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Saturday, as Guardiola's men survived a huge fifth-round scare.

Having fallen behind to Maksym Talovierov's header, City turned the game around with a Nico O' Reilly brace, then De Bruyne scored their clinching goal at the death.

Since his debut in the competition in January 2016, De Bruyne has been involved in more FA Cup goals (first round onwards) than any other player (28 – 10 goals, 18 assists).

But the midfielder turns 34 in June and has been strongly linked with an exit after playing a reduced role in 2024-25.

Speaking after Saturday's win, Guardiola said De Bruyne will go down as a club legend, telling BBC Sport: "He's maybe one of the best three to five players in this club's history. 

"Every time he performs well, I'm the happiest man on the planet. He's given many, many things to the team and to me, and he's played really, really well today."

But when asked if De Bruyne will still be at the Etihad Stadium next season, Guardiola added: "Nobody knows."

Guardiola was also full of praise for 19-year-old O'Reilly, who was also on the scoresheet when City beat Salford City 8-0 in the third round.

Aged 19 years and 345 days, he is the youngest player to score a brace for City in all competitions since Phil Foden (18 years, 264 days) against Newport County (also in the FA Cup) in February 2019.

Asked about the teenager's impact, Guardiola said: "It looks like our left-backs score our goals! 

He's a different type of academy player. He's a big presence and can play in three or four positions. 

"He's a threat from set-pieces because he's strong. I'm really pleased for him because he helped us a lot."

City have won 15 consecutive home games in the FA Cup since a fourth-round defeat (0-2) to Middlesbrough in January 2015.

This is their longest such run in the competition and the longest winning home run by any team since Liverpool won a 16th straight cup tie at Anfield in January 1955.