Despite missing half of the season due to injury, Kevin De Bruyne still returned to his peak and contributed greatly to helping Man City win the 2023/24 Premier League championship.
Main content Hide / ShowInjury and long-term absence from competitionReturning to the top Haaland and Foden benefit greatly
Right before the 2023/23 season, coach Pep Guardiola confirmed that superstar midfielder Kevin De Bruyne will have to rest for the rest of 2023. It is known that the Belgian player suffered a persistent hamstring injury from the Cup final.
De Bruyne `missed` half of the season due to injury (Photo/source: Getty).
De Bruyne’s absence clearly has a huge impact on Man City’s Premier League championship race, as they lack a creative player on the field.
At that time, coach Pep Guardiola was forced to use a striker like Julian Alvarez to play deep to create play, which shows how difficult it is when The Cityzens lack De Bruyne.
Remember, before De Bruyne returned in January 2024, Man City was surpassed by Arsenal and Liverpool in the championship race.
Everything has turned around since the 32-year-old superstar reappeared.
Since returning from injury, De Bruyne has been the most creative player in the Premier League with 10 assists – ranking 2nd in the tournament’s Assist King list, only behind Ollie Watkins (13 assists).
Clearly, De Bruyne was determined to make up for the long period of time he was out due to injury.
This is definitely the golden period of De Bruyne’s career.
De Bruyne proved his worth immediately after returning from injury (Photo/source: Getty).
The excellence and importance of the former Wolfsburg star were further highlighted after coach Jurgen Klopp’s remarkable statement.
Sharing with the media after defeating Newcastle with Liverpool earlier this year, the German strategist gave compliments to the Belgian midfielder:
`No one will remember the leading team in January. Arsenal used to have a big advantage at the top of the table, but then they were left behind. Tottenham at one point left the leading group, but then they also returned.
Not to mention Kevin De Bruyne is recovering.
De Bruyne reappeared and made the whole of England tremble (Photo/source: Getty).
Obviously, Klopp’s judgment was not wrong, as Man City was finally crowned Premier League champion for the fourth consecutive time and 9 points ahead of his Liverpool.
What’s amazing is how many of De Bruyne’s passes to Haaland created scoring opportunities.
The other beneficiary of having De Bruyne on the field was Player of the Season – Phil Foden, who received 12 key passes from his Belgian team-mate from January 13 onwards.
It can be affirmed that De Bruyne’s return is an extremely important catalyst to help Man City make a comeback in the Premier League championship race.
The 2023/24 Premier League championship bears De Bruyne’s mark (Photo/source: Getty).
For the Belgian player, this can be considered the `divine` and most special season for him, as this player’s own statements have confirmed it.
Sharing after helping Man City successfully defend the championship, De Bruyne said: `For me, this is one of the most special titles. I have not had an easy year, having to sit out most of it.`
`But after that, I came back in the best way, helping the home team win, bringing the team to a new level. On a personal level, that is my impressive achievement.`
De Bruyne praised Rico Lewis’ performance in midfield (Source: OneFootball).
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