Kevin De Bruyne has had quite a roller coaster last three years in professional football. In that time he has been sold three times, loaned twice and starred in the 2014 World Cup for Belgium, and has come from being a £6.7 million squad player to a £55 million star attraction. Kevin De Bruyne’s story is fascinating for all to read and highlights quite quickly how fickle football is at the top level. He left Genk with all to prove and the world at his feet for Chelsea, but left Stamford Bridge with a lot to prove and ready to make up for lost time at VFL Wolfsburg. Manchester City are the fifth club he has played for in five years; this is startling when you consider City paid £55 million for a player it appears was not wanted at Chelsea.
At the age of 24, the young man has seen a lot and will be looking to grow and develop in Manchester with City and put down roots for the future as he has signed a six-year-deal. De Bruyne has not stayed at a club for more than one season since he left Belgium with Genk in 2012. By looking at the list of his clubs, the Belgian international is clearly a quality player; he has represented Genk, Chelsea FC, Werder Bremen and VFL Wolfsburg in the last three years. He has been successful in the last 12 months in helping VFL Wolfsburg push and challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title, eventually finishing second last season. As a result of that finish, the team qualified for the UEFA Champions League for a second time in their history and won the 2015 DFB-Pokal Final against Borussia Dortmund in the 2014/15 season. The team began the year where they left off by winning the 2015 DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich in August.
Will he fit in at City?
With the squad available to Manuel Pellegrini, it seems the Chilean has some tough decisions to make. The squad is filled with world class internationals with who have won every prize on offer from League Cups to World Cups and everything in between. De Bruyne should be battle-hardened from his time at Chelsea, and will know what it takes to succeed in that environment. He will know that hard work is what’s needed now to get in the team more than talent but Pellegrini is a loyal character and will give De Bruyne every opportunity to cement his place but will it work? There are pros and cons to his selection in the team. He is a very good player who has a goal in him and has in the last year scored 16 goals and made 28 assists: he is not selfish and will make chances for his new team mates. The only question really in the City attacking midfield area is whether Jesus Navas or Raheem Sterling might drop out for De Bruyne on the left or right wing? De Bruyne is not yet at the level of Silva, who currently occupies the number 10 role, and Sterling, a £50 million acquisition himself this summer, won’t be shifted easily either as the board will want to see the two play together rather than one replace the other in the team.
It appears that Jesus Navas is the man to make way for De Bruyne. Navas has been very sporadic with his crossing and assists, but does provide natural width and pace that De Bruyne won’t; the Belgian cannot play the right attacking role as naturally as the other two positions behind Aguero. If you add to the fact that Manchester City have made a perfect start to the season, winning their first four games and conceding none, not to many changes need made.
How did his value rise so much?
When De Bruyne left Genk in the 2012/13 season he would not have known what was to come.
£6.7 million – Genk to Chelsea, 31st January 2012
De Bruyne joined Chelsea FC in the January of 2012 on a five-and-a-half year deal, but was loaned back to Genk for the remainder of that season, and did not make his debut until the pre-season of the following year. Just under two weeks later, he was shipped out on a season-long loan to Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga. He scored ten goals in thirty three appearances with Bremen that year, and was linked with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2013, before deciding to try to make it into the Chelsea team after assurances from Jose Mourinho, the then-Chelsea manager. In the 2013-14 season he started the first game of the season and provided an assist against Hull City in a 2-0 win, but after this promising start only went on to make a further two appearances for the club.
£18 million – Chelsea FC to Vfl Wolfsburg, 18th January 2014
De Bruyne left Chelsea after losing patience with the club, telling Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws he had “lost his joy” at Chelsea and that he asked Mourinho to let him go. This was understandable for the player after his national coach, Marc Wilmots told him he needed to play in order to be guaranteed a place at the World Cup at the end of that season in Brazil. De Bruyne was still well thought of in Germany after his time at Werder Bremen and showcased that by helping Vfl Wolfsburg to German Cup success, German Super Cup and qualification to the Champions League group stage.
£55 million – Vfl Wolfsburg to Manchester City, 30th August 2015
It will soon become apparent if City have paid wildly over the odds for their latest addition, but the transformation in his career and his value has been truly staggering.
