There are perhaps few new adjectives if at all any, one can find to sing praises of Kevin De Bruyne and the career the Belgian international has had.
He has been quite simply the soul of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City teams.
Season after season, he has operated from the middle of the park, driving his team’s play forward, exploring and exposing opposition spaces, and helping his team out by even playing as a number 9 during the period Manchester City was desperately short of striker.
His career has glittered with exquisite moments of sheer football poetry displaying some of the most beautiful moments in English football in recent memory.
Plenty of trophies have tagged along the way, too of course including a UEFA Champions League last season.
That final saw De Bruyne getting subbed off early. His injury by then was well known in the football world.
He was playing through the injury barrier given the golden chance Manchester City had of winning the ultimate prize in European football.
Pre-Season & Community Shield
Pre-season of this year’s campaign saw him barely feature at all with a total playing time accumulation of only twenty-six minutes.
This was followed by the Community Shield game against Arsenal with Haaland failing to register a shot on goal.
Manchester City’s unfamiliar toothless attacking prowess eased like water being let away from a dam when De Bruyne came on.
It was perhaps because of this very reason and Manchester City’s visible lightness in the middle-prompted Pep Guardiola to start with King Kev.
As the news of early team leaks reached FPL Twitter, there was certainly an element of surprise.
After about two months of tinkering with the template team amongst engaged managers being so heavily strong, De Bruyne provided the perfect opportunity to go different.
Manchester City was playing against Vincent Kompany’s expansive Burnley, they are a shadow in terms of playing style from their time last time in the Premier League under boss Sean Dyche.
De Bruyne’s pricing allowed many FPL managers with already budgets saved up in their locked-in drafts to get to De Bruyne without tearing up the team. The signs were all there.
Opening Day
Much has been spoken about Burnley under Kompany. The first few seconds of the match were providing witness to that, but that promise would only last in the opening encounters with Haaland scoring from a Rodri header in the very opening exchanges.
Burnley will have much easier fixtures than playing against Manchester City on opening day but as far as this match was concerned, Kompany’s men were getting carved open time and again with ease by City in general with the help of Kevin De Bruyne.
Burnley’s man-to-man tactics were falling astray, De Bruyne had a shot on goal it seemed a big haul was coming benefitting Fantasy managers brave enough to punt in him.
Twenty minutes in, Kevin was holding his leg again. He wanted to stay for a bit, but Kovacic was ready to take his place.
There was heartbreak for him and perhaps sorrow for the Fantasy players hoping for a good differential return right in game week one. Everything was in place but alas the injury.
Assets to Monitor
Alvarez was operating alongside De Bruyne with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in both wings.
The introduction of Kovacic meant a change in playing positions with Silva operating from the middle alongside Kovacic and Alvarez taking up Silva’s side.
The latest news on the injury to De Bruyne is what was feared. It is the return of the old injury he was suffering from last season.
De Bruyne will be out for a few months as the rumors go. In any case given the condition, Pep certainly won’t start him against the Magpies at home. He is then given his price a transfer that needs to be done for Fantasy managers with him in their teams.
Alvarez is the most likely to be beneficial from the circumstance, as evidenced last season.
He was greatly influential in the rest of the game, assisting Haaland for the second goal, and maybe should have had one himself.
There will be many FPL managers with Joao Pedro on their sides monitoring the Alvarez situation closely with fixtures turning sour for Seagulls post-game week 3.
Phil Foden too, does become a better option himself, but there is the looming emergence of Paqueta from West Ham.
It would be interesting to see whose minutes he affects more.
Historically given Pep’s approach in terms of Foden’s playing time, the jury will be out if Paqueta does arrive. For now, therefore, Alvarez remains a better asset outside of Haaland in Manchester City’s attack.