Kevin De Bruyne: The boy who was ‘too quiet and didn’t fit in’ is the superhero who guards Manchester City

Manchester City had heroes through different eras. From Francis Lee and Frank Swift of the monochrome era to Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany to recent, Sheikh-era vintage. But never a superhero. Erling Haaland is touted as a could-be superhero, should he preserve his first-season’s stratospheric form. But they do possess a hero that makes the superhero. Kevin De Bruyne, the Belgian pass-metronome whose chief purpose in life seems to shower greatness on his teammates, who loves to quietly shrink away from defenders as well as the arc-lights, who does not even inhabit the subconscious of the paparazzi-page three ilk.
There is a paradox about being De Bruyne. On the field, he is omniscient yet invisible. His ginger-blonde crown of full hair—he though hates the moniker ‘Ginger Pele’—and the face that gets pinker as the game progresses cannot be missed. He is often the first player that rival managers discuss when plotting an often futile City coup. Tightly-marked, heavily-tackled, yet De Bruyne passes pounces from nowhere, from the dark, from invisibility, as if he is conjurer in the guise of a footballer.
The pass often seems like an illusion. You see him with the ball, his angles blocked snarling marksmen, all avenues and outlets blocked. Then, just like that he finds the man, finds the space and time he wants, tracks the route he wants the ball to track. Without fuss, without theatre, without performing anything remotely outlandish, but simply doing the simple things. There are few simpler players around. He is not prone to feigning or dribbling, no showboating or elaboration. His speed is modest, he seldom back-heels or slips to other gallery tricks that could expand his cult following. He just passes, in the smartest and simplest way, perfectly and precisely.
Kevin de Bruyne celebrates scoring vs Arsenal in the Premier League fixture at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. (Manchester City on Twitter)
He has, as it was often said of Xavi, “a protractor for a brain and a compass for a right foot”. Like Xavi, he is the king of subtlety. Often, it’s about imparting half a gram more of weight on the ball, or less, or feeding the ball an inch away from the receiver, or an inch less, or curling the ball or not curling the ball. A subtle craft is thus rendered subtler. His isn’t dark art, rather art in clear sunshine.
The effect he has on defenders is different. He does not make them marvel at his passing range, rather makes them kick the turf in rage, making them wonder how they missed such an obvious route that only De Bruyne saw. That’s his genius, the simplicity and clarity of thinking, in visualizing the most obvious path, so obvious that it escapes the attention of the defenders.
In essence, he is a pure Guardiola player, a successor to Barcelona pass-masters Xavi and Andres Iniesta. It took Guardiola to harness the best of the Belgian too. His first taste of the Premier League, as a 20-year-old with Chelsea, was considered a failure, where he donned the dark blue shirt just thrice and was loaned out to Werder Bremen before shipping him to VfL Wolfsburg in 2013. Two years later, after he won the Bundesliga player of the season, City coughed up 55 million pounds for his signature. “The world is going mad. The amount of money they’re paying for this boy is just absolutely bonkers,” barked former Liverpool player Phil Thompson.
None of it would bother De Bruyne, who had endured several rejections in life. In a Youtube documentary, he speaks of his pain when his foster family during his time at the Genk sent his parents a letter that they cannot look after him because they found him “too quiet and did not fit in”. Genk then sent him to a boarding school, which he disliked. But he recovered and told his parents that he will strive harder and make the first team, which he did after stringing together consent performances.
Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne. (REUTERS)
There is an inner steel hidden in his boyish, even self-effacing exterior. So De Bruyne not only prospered in City, but also was adjudged the best player in four of his seven full seasons, wherein City won the league four times. The only constant in a ceaselessly-evolving City team has been De Bruyne, who like City is constantly polishing and expanding his game. When he burst forth, he was more of a modern right-sided forward, neither a full-fledged playmaker nor an instinctive goal-scorer. But under Guardiola, he has evolved into a versatile player, who could switch into a variety of roles and be assured of producing a masterclass. False 9, second striker, right or left-sided forward, classical playmaker, deep-lying playmaker, box-to-box midfielder, there are few roles he has not donned. “Roles are overrated, in the end it is about influencing the game,” he had once said.
Little doubt that he has been City’s most influential player in the Pep era. He is City’s all-time ass-maker (148 in 349 games). Of these 102 (in 238 games) have arrived in the Premier League, making him joint-fourth in the all-time l of PL era. These are staggering numbers—the rate of one ass in less than two-and-a-half games is better than Frank Lampard (one in six games), Ryan Giggs (one in five games), and Steven Gerrard (one in five games), considered the three greatest attacking players of the PL era. He scores once in three and half games too, again at a par or better strike rate than the aforementioned trio. Gerrard struck once in six games, Lampard the same as De Bruyne and Giggs a goal in seven games. All of them retired as immortals of their club; it’s time De Bruyne is considered an immortal of City, the greatest ever in a light-blue shirt. A Champions League medal, and a potential treble, could only embellish his aura and ascertain his status as one of the best in Europe.
Guardiola once detailed the essence of his craft. “Kevin has an ability that is so difficult to find,” he said. “Normally a player has to slow down to see the pass, but Kevin sees it when he is at full speed. When one player has this 80-90 per cent intensity, and ability to see the passes, he is more calm than the ones at 40 per cent. He is exceptional.”
He has Gary Linekar in wow too. “Every time Kevin De Bruyne gets the ball he’s got the picture of where he wants the ball to go next. He’s the best passer of a ball I’ve seen in the Premier League. A genius.”

No one benefited from this gift this season more than Haaland. There is now more value at the end of De Bruyne eye-of-the-needle passes than ever before. De Bruyne, in turn, has become more direct and faster in his passing. Ten of Haaland’s 49 goals have been masterminded De Bruyne, making the pair an irresible tag-team now leaping into treble immortality.
Maybe, City need not search for their first superhero. They already possess one. He is not Erling Haaland. He is Kevin De Bruyne, the ginger-haired ass-king from Drongen.