Four Years of De Bruyne For Manchester City

Manchester City made one of their best player signings in their 125 year history when they clinched the deal for Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg.

Kevin De Bruyne joined the Manchester City side managed by Manuel Pellegrini on 30 August 2015 for a fee of £55 million, which at the time made him the second most expensive player in British football, behind Manchester United’s £60 million for Angel Di Maria.

At the time of the purchase there were many pundits in the media who questioned the fee spent on a player they thought was unlikely to ever work out. They pointed to his time at Chelsea and described his time there as a failure, without seeking to understand quite what had happened for De Bruyne.

De Bruyne had joined Chelsea from boyhood club Genk on 31 January 2012 for around £8 million and was immediately loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the 2011/12 season.

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The following season he was loaned to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga and returned to Chelsea in Summer 2013, determined to earn a place in the team. At Bremen, De Bruyne had played 34 times and scored 10 goals, creating a further 10 assists, so felt he had done enough to earn a place at Chelsea.

But back at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho things did not go according to plan. He made just 9 appearances, the majority from the bench and by his own account was frustrated at the lack of opportunity. Mourinho later said De Bruyne was not training or playing well enough to earn a place in the side.

In January 2014 De Bruyne left Chelsea in a permanent deal for Wolfsburg for a fee of around £16 million. He returned to the Bundesliga where he had performed so well the season before. If anything in those first few months at Wolfsburg he took his time to settle.

He ended the 2013/14 season with 3 goals in a 4 game burst, but it was his 2014/15 performances which brought him to the attention of many of the scouts at top European clubs, and particularly Manchester City.

In 2014/15 De Bruyne scored 16 goals and notched up an impressive 28 assists. Manchester City started negotiating with Wolfsburg before the season had in fact finished and the deal was finally announced 0n August 30 2015.

At City in that first season 16 goals and 13 assists followed in a side which fought to the Champions League Semi Finals. But, it was the coming of Guardiola in 2016/17 and some tactical reshuffles which really brought the best out of De Bruyne. In 2016/17 he scored just 7 times but had 21 assists in all competitions, reflecting a new slightly deeper role.

In the 2017/18 season where City became the Centurions in the Premier League by reaching 100 points for the first time ever, De Bruyne was pivotal. 12 goals and another 21 assists powered City to the title. However, the statistics alone don’t tell the full story.

De Bruyne is an exquisite player, capable of seeing the perfect pass and executing it repeatedly. His vision and delivery powers our movement and can unlock even the most stubborn defences. Simply put, he makes the game beautiful to watch.

The 2018/19 season was disrupted by repeated injury, from which recovery has been careful. During the season De Bruyne was absent for much of the campaign, reducing his impact to 6 goals and 11 assists.

Much is expected in this current season as De Bruyne looks to be back to his best, which is a terrifying thought for Premier League defenders. So far he has hit 4 assists, meaning he is now the quickest player in Premier League history to reach 50 assists ever.

The signing of De Bruyne has proven to be central to our play under Guardiola and without him we have had to adjust our style. To have him back this campaign is a blessing and on the performances so far there is much to be excited about as a City fan.

When we signed De Bruyne he was initially tied to a 6 year which would have expired in 2021. However in January 2018 City tied De Bruyne to a further 2 year contract extension, taking him until 30 June 2023. Currently he is 28 years of age so City have got him under contract until he is 32 and that represents excellent business.

Should De Bruyne remain injury free this is the year his performances may power us to further glory. What a player he is!