With two swift flicks of his right boot, Kevin De Bruyne announced his Manchester City return in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It only feels like yesterday that Fernandinho was lifting the Premier League trophy high into the east Manchester sky for the fourth time in five seasons. But the Blues have already reconvened for pre-season training ahead of yet another jam-packed campaign.
Club América was Pep Guardiola's side's first test, and it provided a good chance for the manager to assess his squad and monitor the players fitness levels. With a World Cup in Qatar sandwiched in the middle of this season, the City boss will need to use his strength in depth to the maximum if he is to maintain the same levels of dominance.
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Changes have been aplenty at the Etihad Stadium already this symmer. Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling have already left for pastures new, with Oleksandr Zinchenko set to join them through the exit door. In response, Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega have all arrived at the club and the squad has a fresh look about it.
One thing that hasn't changed, however, is De Bruyne.
Upon the announcement of Sterling's move to Chelsea last week, the Belgian posted on Twitter: "Last man standing or just getting older. Part of the furniture." The accompanying picture was the squad Guardiola inherited when he took over the reigns in 2016 — and now only De Bruyne remains.
His dizzying levels of consistency have helped De Bruyne engrained himself as one of Europe's finest midfielders in these past six years and it should come as no surprise he looked as sharp as ever in City's first pre-season friendly.
By De Bruyne's own admission, his ankle injury — picked up in Euro 2021 — plagued the vast majority of last season and it took him a while to find his world-class level. Even with that start, his career-best 15 Premier League goals dragged City to the title and he was City's player of the season, the Premier League's official player of the year and he was selected also in the PFA team of the year.
With a summer of rest and a full pre-season schedule, he already looks back to his thrilling best, and the arrivals of Haaland and Alvarez can push him onto even higher levels.
De Bruyne has always played a free-roaming midfield position — usually in front of Bernardo Silva and Rodri — but against Club América, he was allowed even more creative freedom. He could drop deep, stay high, play off the striker or stay wide, and none of it had a negative impact on how City operated.
It's a scary proposition for opposition defences, especially with his capabilities in and around the box. The 31-year-old's first goal showed he is just as capable of picking out the top corner from the edge of the box as he is finding a killer pass in behind the backline.
The sharp runs of Alvarez left the Club América defence in two minds and allowed De Bruyne to take centre stage. Haaland has the ability to operate in a similar way, so it seems City have all the hallmarks of a deadly partnership forming as the start of the season looms large.
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