Both FPL and life look like a full circle, at times. What goes away, comes back too — albeit, in a different form and in a different shape.
It’s not long back that Kevin De Bruyne, one of the finest to have taken the field in the history of the English Premier League, appeared to be a fading sun heading towards an evening in Saudi Arabia or a night in the MLS. And now, a few months down the line, the Belgian king seems to have restored his royalty.
If there is an FPL museum ever, King De Bruyne’s wax statue along with his playing boots will be one of its first acquisitions. He deserves to have his statue made at the Etihad too.
But time and war remain the biggest threat for an empire. Of late, the Belgium international was engaged in two battlefronts — time was catching up and injury woes looked like permanent tattoos.
The chink in the armour showed up during the biggest night of his life — the 2022-23 UCL final which saw City claiming the European crown, also witnessed KDB breaking his hamstring. Even after his recovery, the hamstring went out of order and he had to go under the knife soon. Things didn’t remain the same anymore.
He seemed to have enough fire left within him during the second-half of last season when Pep’s City clinched another PL title. But come to the Fantasy Premier League 2024-25, Kevin had to deal with the hamstring monster again and it forced him off from GW5 to GW10.
When the Belgian creative genius came back to the City setup, his minutes were managed by Pep. But he showed promise upon his first start, as he raked in a 14-pt haul against Nottingham Forest thanks to a goal and an assist. He also bagged an assist in the Manchester derby which turned red again after the FA Cup final.
However, in the last four gameweeks, we have rediscovered the OG Kevin De Bruyne in his vintage self. He has not only started all the matches but also racked up 27pts. In this phase, KDB has registered — five assists, fourteen key passes, and four big chances created.
The price-tag of £9.4m may appear a bit on the high side but KDB can justify his worth in FPL. He has done it time and again. This is what he himself said back in November, “I felt I could make a difference at this level, I felt I could make a difference for this team, and as long as I feel that, that’s a good indicator that I can still play at the top level.”
Though Manchester City’s upcoming ties look quite tough on paper, it appears that the vintage De Bruyne is in mint condition and as of now, is here to stay. Never forget what his boss, football genius, Pep Guardiola said about him, “When it goes to have something replaced, it is not the same car.”
Meanwhile, KDB remains a huge differential asset in the game with only 4.5% of the managers having him in their team at the time of writing. His underlying numbers also call for admiration — an xGI of 0.65 per 90’. It’s no wonder that he managed to score two goals and register as many as eight assists from just 971 minutes, amassing 70pts in total.
