Kevin De Bruyne will shine this season

Entering his first full season with Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne is poised for a massive year under new boss Pep Guardiola. Here are three reasons why De Bruyne will be the EPL’s best player in 2016-17.

On the eve of transfer deadline day last summer, Kevin De Bruyne joined Manchester City on a six-year deal in a club-record £55 million move from Wolfsburg. Coming off a season in which he racked up 10 goals and 21 assists en route to Bundesliga Footballer of the Year honors, it didn’t take long for De Bruyne to make his mark in the EPL. He netted three goals within his first month as City got off to a blazing start in the league.

As the season went on, City faded and so did De Bruyne, as he injured his knee while diving against Everton in a League Cup semifinal match. However, he regained health in April and led City to an upset of PSG in the Champions League quarterfinals, scoring once in the 2-2 first leg and netting a glorious match-winner in City’s 1-0 win in the return fixture.

City have reloaded and are currently title co-favorites as we’re eight days away from the start of this EPL season. The pieces are in place for De Bruyne to dominate. Here’s three reasons why he’ll be named Player of the Year in May.

He’s the heartbeat of City’s attack

After leading the Premier League with 71 goals last season, City is fully capable of knocking on the door of 80 goals this year. Make no mistake, Sergio Aguero is the head of the attack and David Silva is the leader. You can even give the role of orchestrator to newly-signed Ilkay Gundogan. But the heartbeat? That’s De Bruyne. He, along with Silva, will be given free-wheeling roles in the attacking midfield.

Pacey wingers Nolito and Raheem Sterling will stay wide and open up the pitch, allowing De Bruyne to find pockets of space behind Aguero and take defenders on with a full head of steam. With all the passing and movement, City’s attack won’t often stagnate, and De Bruyne will be the biggest beneficiary.

He’s got the right manager

Saying De Bruyne and Guardiola are a match made in heaven would be pointless. As an elite mind in modern football, most top players would thrive under the ex-Bayern boss. That said, De Bruyne has never played under a manager as good as Guardiola. In fact, the last time we saw him in a competitive match, he was on Marc Wilmots’s underachieving Belgium squad in the Euros. Suffice to say, the disparity in managers is night and day.

Looking back specifically with Guardiola at Bayern, the top, in-form players were the ones who thrived in the past few years. Before Guardiola, Bayern was led by the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben, and rightly so. But the last three years will be remembered for Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, David Alaba and Douglas Costa guiding the German club to a trio of league titles.

Guardiola is not afraid to build around a new face. Aguero, Silva and to a lesser extent, Toure, will all have their moments, but look for the 25-year-old De Bruyne to become the poster boy for the new City sooner rather than later.

It’s his second season

Just because it’s simple, doesn’t make it not true. Most players — especially when switching leagues — struggle in their first year. And even then, it’s hard to call De Bruyne’s impressive EPL debut season much a a struggle, but still, expect him to fully come into his own this year. Eden Hazard’s second year with Chelsea could be what we’re in for.

After a superb nine-goal, 11-assist debut season at Chelsea, Hazard followed it up with a14-goal, seven assist line in 2013-14. While he’d go on to top himself the next year, you could argue that Hazard would have won PFA Player for the Year if not for a Liverpool striker named Luis Suarez. That’s the type of season De Bruyne is set for in the league. Barring injury, he’ll blow past double-digit goals and assists shortly after the season’s halfway point, and the EPL will see that City’s biggest signing ever was worth every cent.

Three official predictions

De Bruyne will net 15 league goals, which will be good for second on City, behind only Aguero.
His 15 goals will be paired with 16 assists, which will edge out Mesut Ozil for the most in the EPL.
De Bruyne will be your PFA Player of the Year, edging out Hazard, Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

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