Manchester City lead the Premier League table this season having won five out of their five league games under new boss Pep Guardiola. The Catalan boss was brought in to help the Citizens achieve supremacy in the English top-flight and has made a bright start to life in Manchester.
One of the key reasons for City’s good start to the campaign has been the form of Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne. The 25-year-old former-Chelsea player has produced four assists and two goals in the English top-flight this season and his influence on the team is growing.
Last season he made a promising start to his City career, having joined for £55million from Wolfsburg last summer. However, an injury mid-season meant that the Belgium international missed a decisive period of the campaign and in his absence, City slipped out of the race for the title.
Not only did City slip out of the title race, they barely scraped fourth spot ahead of arch-rivals Manchester United. De Bruyne has wasted no time in making his presence felt this season.
His performance against Manchester United in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford was particularly influential. City travelled to their neighbours without star striker Sergio Aguero, but De Bruyne stepped up and produced a commanding display, scoring the opening goal and having a hand in the second goal.
De Bruyne was at it again against Bournemouth on Saturday, as he scored and assisted in a 4-0 home win for the Citizens. City was without the aforementioned Aguero and Spanish playmaker David Silva, but that did not matter as De Bruyne again produced an influential display.
Manchester City may have a lot of good players, but with every game, Kevin De Bruyne plays for the team he increases his influence. City boss Pep Guardiola has stated that he believes that the playmaker is second only to Barcelona star Lionel Messi in football ability.
If he continues in his current vein then in the future football fans will be talking about the Belgian international as one of the best players in the world.