Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne must play centrally after Barcelona win

Kevin De Bruyne is one of Manchester City’s best players. Against Barcelona on Tuesday, the Belgian proved where his best position is.

Eyebrows were raised when Kevin De Bruyne joined Manchester City for in excess of £50 million from Wolfsburg. A year later and all of those doubts have been put to bed. Kevin De Bruyne has proved himself to be one of Manchester City‘s very best players.

Last season, De Bruyne showed just why City were happy to pay the fee they did for him. The Belgian scored seven goals in the Premier League and served up nine assists for his new teammates.

Beyond the goals and assists, De Bruyne’s class was evident in a short amount of time. Now this season, under new City boss Pep Guardiola, De Bruyne is looking to raise his stock even further. Already, the playmaker has five assists in only eight Premier League appearances.

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De Bruyne has played in a wide position for much of his time in Manchester so far. Although, Guardiola has played him in a more central position early on this season alongside David Silva and Fernandinho.

But since Ilkay Gundogan recovered from injury, it’s been either De Bruyne or Silva who have been thrust back out to the wing as a result. Against Barcelona on Tuesday in the Champions League, it was De Bruyne who started the game out wide.

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The 25-year-old had a limited impact on the game in the first half. Playing wide means De Bruyne is involved less and can easily drift in and out of proceedings. In the second half against the Spanish giants, Guardiola swapped De Bruyne and Silva.

With the Belgian now back playing centrally, his impact on the game went from 0-100 in no time. De Bruyne has the kind of passing ability and creativity that is wasted in a wide position. Similar can be said of Silva, but De Bruyne is more direct and has more of an end product to his play.

The game against Barca showed De Bruyne must play in a central position from now on. That can either be alongside Gundogan and Fernandinho in a three-man midfield, or as a number 10 higher up the pitch.

De Bruyne is one of City’s absolute best players and his impact must be maximized. The more De Bruyne is involved, the better City are always going to play. He has to be a focal point from now on. He’s earned that status.

The Barcelona game proved that. The two contrasting halves proved that. Against one of the best midfield’s around – although the away team did have some injuries – De Bruyne was one of the most dominant players on the pitch.

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Guardiola loves his team to control possession. And if your team has a lot of possession, then there aren’t many players around right now that use the ball better than Kevin De Bruyne.

For Guardiola’s City, he must play centrally in every game moving forward.

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