Paul Merson has claimed that Manchester City are a completely different side when they don’t have Kevin De Bruyne in the team.
The midfielder didn’t start in City’s Community Shield clash against Arsenal last weekend but did come on in the 64th minute to replace Mateo Kovacic.
With the new Premier League season set to kick off this evening with Pep Guardiola’s side taking on Burnley, one pundit has shared his thoughts on what sort of impact the Belgian has on the team, especially when he’s not in the side.
Merson says City are unrecognisable without De Bruyne
In a recent column for Sportskeeda previewing the first round of Premier League fixtures of the new campaign, Merson had this to say about De Bruyne and his absence.
He said: “When Kevin De Bruyne doesn’t play for Manchester City, they seem like a different team.”
During his 26 minutes against Arsenal last weekend, the 32-year-old, who City paid £55m to sign back in 2015, managed to make two key passes and provide the assist for Cole Palmer’s goal, showcasing what sort of impact he had on the game.
Looking back over the previous Premier League campaign, De Bruyne managed to make more key passes (96), shot-creating actions (176) and goal-creating actions (31) than any other City player, further highlighting how effective he is at setting up goalscoring opportunities.
However, out of the six league games he didn’t feature in, the Citizens still managed to win five of them and score 16 goals in the process.
While Guardiola’s side showed that they can cope on the odd occasion without De Bruyne in the team, it’s clear that they’re a better side with him in terms of being able to be a constant goal threat.
