If the media and Pellegrini’s hints are to believed and Kevin De Bruyne completes a multi-million move to City in the coming weeks, his full-circle journey to Premier League stardom could be pinpointed back to quite an unexpected place: a Tuesday night in Swindon. On the 24th of September 2013, Swindon Town succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the League Cup. After defeating QPR in the previous round, the Robins proved to be innocuous opposition for Mourinho’s men. Not completely innocuous for all of his men though. Not that De Bruyne would ever classify himself as a Mourinho man.
One week after Chelsea’s routine win in Wiltshire, the newly appointed Mourinho was facing the media in Bucharest’s ‘National Arena’ ahead of his team’s Champions League tie against Steaua. When De Bruyne’s exclusion from the match day squad was questioned, the Special One had a simple answer; “I didn’t like the match he played against Swindon in the Capital One Cup”. Cue the Romanian press contingent hastily googling ‘Swindon’ whilst their English counterparts write how the midfielder’s lack of laboriousness, a Mourinho must-have, means he can’t cut it for the West London club.
After four months cast aside the promising Belgian was shipped off to Wolfsburg for £18 million, a move heralded at the time as a shrewd piece of business on Chelsea’s behalf for a player who only started two games for the club. Fast forward 18 months and De Bruyne has been voted Bundesliga Player of the Year for a stellar season leading the Wolves’ pack to a 2nd place league finish and collecting a DFB-Pokal Cup winners medal.
It may seem harsh to label Wolfsburg as a one-man team, but you don’t have to look beyond the stats to conclude De Bruyne’s omnipresent influence was key to the Wolves’ success last season.
Kevin De Bruyne 2014/15 statistics – all competitions
Bundesliga: 34 games, 10 goals, 21 assists (league record).
Europa League: 11 games, 5 goals, 5 assists
DFB-Pokal Cup: 6 games, 1 goal, 2 assists
The Belgian midfielder has revelled in an advanced central role with the license to roam out wide, a task undertaken with elegance and intelligence. The David Silva-esque way in which he glides across the final third finding the black-hole pockets of space which lure defenders out of position has made him a nightmare for right-backs, left-backs, centre-backs and defensive midfielders across Germany.
Not forgetting goalkeepers too. None less than Manuel Neuer for example. Wolfsburg’s 4-1 victory at the Allianz Arena saw De Bruyne coolly slot the ball past the German’s daunting frame before doubling his tally by smashing a left-footed piledriver into the ‘keeper’s near top corner. His exquisitely executed volley against Lille in the Europa League wouldn’t look out of place in a Zidane or Zlatan highlight reel and his clinical half-volley past Borussia Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller from 25 yards was the decisive goal in Wolfsburg’s DFB-Pokal final victory.
De Bruyne’s powers have spanned as far as transforming uninspiring, average strikers into prolific finishers. Bas Dost’s time at the Voltswagen Arena seemed to be up after his meagre four goals in the 2013/14 season saw the club move to desperate measures in a search for goals; signing Nicklas Bendtner. Yet with De Bruyne behind him, the lanky, cumbersome Dost fed off an endless banquet of exquisite through balls and pinpoint crosses to record 16 Bundesliga goals in 17 starts last season (although the same can’t be said for ‘Lord Bendtner’ with 18 games and 1 goal – De Bruyne isn’t that good). The thought of De Bruyne developing a similar telepathic partnership with a striker of Sergio Aguero’s quality is mouthwatering. Throw in Sterling and Silva and it’s hard to see any Premier League defence being able to withstand that sort of firepower.
If the 24-year-old made the move to City, he’d get the chance to directly avenge his favourite Portuguese manager and help bring the title back up the M6. Although Manuel may want to think twice if his team were to draw Swindon in the League Cup. Kevin De Bruyne is far too inferior to line up at The County Ground, isn’t he Jose? Jose…?
