The Fryday View: Kevin de Bruyne - A luxury City can do without?

The intrepid modern-day football fan who chooses to shun the mainstream delights of the Premier League and La Liga for the German Bundesliga, will no doubt wax lyrical about Kevin de Bruyne. 

Wolfsburg’s wunderbar number ten was a relentless menace last season - claiming 20 assists in the Bundesliga alone. 

Following a summer of rumours, enquiries and bids, City appear to have finally sealed the signature of the Belgian attacker - and at £54 million and £200,000 a week he isn’t coming cheap. 

Kevin de Bruyne reading this article

A goalscorer, a creative force, a classic number ten, who at 24 will only improve, de Bruyne is the type of player you could build a title winning team around - but is he what City need right now? I’m not so sure. 

Last season’s limp effort should have been the end of Manuel Pellegrini. However City - perhaps waiting for Pep Guardiola to become available - have kept faith with the Chilean and so far, it looks to have been an inspired decision. 

The addition of Raheem Sterling coupled with the seemingly permanent switch to a 4-2-3-1 system has seen City convincingly win their first three Premier League games. The introduction of Sterling has given City much needed vibrancy and crucially, has allowed the best number ten in world - David Silva - to play in his natural position. 

Suddenly all the pieces have fallen nicely in to place. Mr reliability Joe Hart is protected by a back four that has rediscovered its edge. Plainly put, Vincent Kompany is fit and is once again exuding invincibility. Eliaquim Mangala has a newfound assurance that is only present having endured a difficult debut season. 

Sagna and Kolarov are flourishing behind Navas and Sterling - highlighting how significant pace is at any level of the game. As Toure and Fernandinho sit, tick play over and only break forward when necessary, the wide men are a constant threat - especially on the counter attack. 

Silva - who for so long was misused on the left of a 4-4-2 - is now central and allowed to float everywhere. He weaves his individual magic, whilst at the same time subtly linking up with Navas, Sterling and Aguero. Well, Kun Aguero, what more could you want from a centre forward - ruthlessly lethal. 

Then there is the strength in depth. Zabaleta, Demichelis, Otamendi, Clichy, Fernando, Delph, Bony and Samir Nasri - who served up a timely reminder of his class last weekend. 

Kolaring

City are in full flow, the team to beat. So where does Kevin fit in to all of this? Where does he play for starters? Frankly you can’t play David Silva anywhere else - it would be a crime against football to move him out wide again. Not only does it prevent the variation in his play, it hinders Kolarov’s ability to effectively overlap - his link-up play with Sterling is quickly becoming a trait of this City side. 

The Bundesliga watching hipsters have made it clear that de Bruyne cannot play wide. I agree, but for slightly different reasons. Moving de Bruyne wide would remove half of the pace from the side - it shouldn’t even be considered as an option. Navas and Sterling's delivery may be somewhat inconsistent, but their unpredictability is what scares defenders. 

Maybe this is all part of the bigger Pellegrini picture - bring in Otamendi and de Bruyne as insurance, or even for the future. Both Silva and Kompany turn 30 next year, so could it be a transitional move? Unlikely - Pellegrini will probably leave City before Silva and Kompany. 

Whatever the reasoning, the decision to bring in de Bruyne is overkill - in a area that doesn’t need strengthening. With the system and style of play being implemented, an additional pair of pacy wingers would be ideal - Pedro supposedly turned down City’s advances, so they have pursued this idea. Stoke City's Shaqiri would have been shrewd at £12 million. 

Mane, Mirallas, Felipe Anderson, Lucas, Lavezzi - from the ridiculous to the sublime, there are various other avenues City could have gone down before stumping up the cash for a player they don’t need. Not to do Wilfried Bony a disservice, but another striker would also have been beneficial to the squad.

It is a selection headache that Pellegrini will have pre-empted - which makes the move all the more puzzling. Then again, who is to say there won’t be more business after this - it is City after all. 

Simplifying everything for a second, City are about to add more goals and assists to a squad that has scored eight in three. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?