However, he is no longer the focus of attention at Manchester City. The spotlight, Kevin De Bruyne left them willingly to Erling Haaland. But that doesn’t stop him from shining. Quite the contrary. The Belgian is however accustomed to displaying the highest standards. But he is on track to do even stronger. This can be seen by his influence on the field. This can also be read in the numbers. Nine assists in nine matches in a league as demanding as the Premier League is unheard of. Even for a genius of his caliber.
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The decisive pass is his thing. This is not new. De Bruyne has already panicked the counters in this area. He signed 20 in two different seasons, one at Wolfsburg (2014-15), the other at Manchester City (2019-20). He has just overtaken David Silva to become the best passer in the history of the Mancunian club (94). The Belgian left on an exceptional basis. At this rate, he will break the record for assists in a season that he himself had established a little over two years ago.
His ideal register
The arrival of Erling Haaland is no stranger to the phenomenon. She has gifted Manchester City with one of the best finishers on the planet and offered De Bruyne the perfect complement to convert his caviars. Above all, it allows him to evolve in his ideal register, which was not necessarily the case last season. “City needed a spike, basically since Sergio Agüero started to declineexplains Ben Snowball, journalist on eurosport.co.uk. De Bruyne shouldered much of this burden. Although he was the club’s top scorer last season (15 goals), he was playing in a much more advanced position than City wanted him to be.”
“Like Wembanyama, Haaland breaks the codes”
A bit lower, but close to Haaland with great freedom of movement across the width of the pitch, De Bruyne has found the area of action he prefers and the prerogatives that go with it. “His greatest strength is delivering assistsconfirms Ben Snowball. It’s so obvious now that Haaland has arrived. Previously, he sent light passes into the box that could be wasted. But that’s not happening anymore this season. One of Haaland’s goals against Manchester United is the perfect example. In previous seasons, this opportunity would have been missed.”
“If you stopped De Bruyne, you stopped City”
But Haaland’s contribution is not limited to converting De Bruyne’s offerings into goals. The Norwegian focuses the attention of opposing defenses so much that he frees up space for his teammates. This benefits the Belgian, like the second goal scored by the English champion against Southampton last week (4-0). With a start, a call from Haaland that monopolized two defenders and left Phil Foden isolated on the left side. The kind of error not to face a passer of the caliber of De Bruyne, who perfectly found the Englishman for the goal of the break.
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This is precisely what makes the Belgian so strong, perhaps more than ever. Because he had never known such an ideal configuration to express his creative talent. “Previously, if you stopped De Bruyne, you had a high chance of stopping Citysummarizes Ben Snowball. This is no longer the case. Teams also need to watch Haaland and Foden, allowing De Bruyne more time and space to control the midfield and play his passes that pierce the opposing defence.”
“If he does it in the big matches…”
That’s the whole problem for Manchester City’s opponents. Haaland is the lethal weapon but the danger comes from everywhere. And De Bruyne is the right man to orchestrate it all. He was already one of the very best in the world for that, but the presence of the Norwegian has further accentuated the phenomenon. Because KDB no longer monopolizes attention and that only makes it more dangerous. “De Bruyne probably doesn’t need to be as good as previous yearsadvances Ben Snowball. But he can finally do what he does best: create chances. If he does it in the big games, in the big moments, then for sure he’s on his best season.”
It’s still too early to say that De Bruyne is stronger than ever. But the Belgian could hardly chart a more royal path to impose this observation. He has always been City’s strongman and Haaland’s arrival has only made him even better. This is the impression that emerges from his dazzling start to the season. The one he will endeavor to confirm until the end to lead City to all the heights. And find the supreme consecration that his creative genius has been calling for for so long.
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