Manchester City have sorely missed the creative spark of Kevin de Bruyne towards the start of the 2023/24 season. To be fair, they have only lost a few games – but when it comes to being European Treble winners – three losses in a row can attract crisis talks.
The Cityzens arguably missed De Bruyne the most in their 1-0 loss to Arsenal before the October international break. That is because the Belgian midfielder absolutely loves playing against the Gunners. He was vital to them defeating Arsenal in both Premier League matches last season and taking charge in the title race.
So it isn’t surprising that a De Bruyne-less City side went down in dull fashion in the Premier League clash. In fact, Arsenal’s win over the Cityzens in the Community Shield in August was also after De Bruyne was substituted in the game.
The Belgian midfielder sustained a hamstring injury towards the start of the campaign and was forced to undergo surgery. Before the Arsenal game earlier this month, Pep Guardiola had stated that De Bruyne would be back ‘sooner than expected’ – which was initially touted to be in January.
But it’s fair to assume that he should be back in action well before that. It also appears that the Belgian midfielder has really worked on his physique during his time away from the pitch. In recent pictures, De Bruyne looks surprisingly fit and skinny after not playing for the Cityzens for a few months.
Some pictures of him hanging out with his close ones on a beach and personal training started to circulate among Manchester City fans, who couldn’t hold their excitement. For one, De Bruyne looks really skinny and probably the fittest he’s been in quite a few years.
Moreover, a lot of fans believe that this Skinny KDB can be the ultimate weapon to empower their charge for major titles in the second half of the season. Even though some supporters are arguing that a ‘fat KDB’ is the best form of the Belgian midfielder, probably refereeing to last season’s heroics, a lot of fans believe that this skinny version of the 32-year-old can be even deadlier.
A lot of fans are delighted that ‘Skinny KDB’ is back and starting to share clips of just how menacing he can be after getting rid of the ‘dad bod’. The best possible example of the endless power of a skinnier version of the Belgian midfielder is probably a reference to how he helped the Cityzens win the 2017/18 Premier League title.
De Bruyne was in monster form in that campaign, scoring 12 goals and producing a whopping 21 assist across all competitions. That included an incredible 16 assists and eight goals in 37 Premier League appearances. De Bruyne just rampaged through nearly every single team in England to help Manchester City secure 100 points and win the title in dominant fashion.
Since then, the Belgian midfielder has somewhat let himself go and allowed a little bit of chubbiness to set in. That has resulted in some injury problems, even though it hasn’t really affected his performances that much.
But history has shown that a Skinny De Bruyne can run riot once he has that athleticism boost to his game. Manchester City fans will hope that the midfielder can tap into that peak form once more to power them to even more major titles this season.