What Kevin De Bruyne brings to Manchester City

Manchester City's pursuit of Kevin De Bruyne was never a will-he-won't-he tale, so much as a question of what was taking so long.

Related: Manchester City completes signing of Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg

The rumours began swirling around the end of last season. Now, three-and-a-half months later and two days before the end of the summer transfer window, the deal is complete, to the tune of £51 million.

(Courtesy: @omomani)

But the acquisition of De Bruyne poses the same question as City's signing of Nicolas Otamendi: Does the club really need him?

City has begun the campaign in brilliant form, with Raheem Sterling slotting right into Manuel Pellegrini's plans, and the midfielders who were anonymous for large chunks of last year coming to the fore.

Sterling playing wide on the left flank helped stretch the midfield, affording David Silva more room to weave his magic, and allowing Fernandinho and Yaya Toure to take turns storming forward.

In its last game, however, City's weaker player going forward was exposed, and was dealt with at halftime against Watford.

Jesus Navas is not a bad player, but he is a rather predictable, no-thrills asset, and he was the man sacrificed at the break. His pace down the wings is fantastic, and the low, hard cross across the six-yard box that he favours is often one of the more difficult deliveries for a defender to deal with. But when going to the byline and hammering one of these daisy cutters across is what you do the vast majority of the time, it's going to be a lot easier for Premier League defenders to anticipate.

While a Navas assist is more of a smash-and-grab - a guilty, cheap burger chomped down out of pure necessity - De Bruyne's work more closely resembles the quality and service his doppelganger Prince Harry receives down Buckingham Palace.

An assist from Navas and De Bruyne has exactly the same worth, but De Bruyne's outrageous numbers last year suggest he can provide more of them than the Spaniard, while the speed and dogged play of Navas offer City a plan B off the bench superior to that of any club in the league.

Not only does De Bruyne provide beautifully weighted balls to his fellow attackers, he also possesses the ability to cut inside, allowing his full-back to overlap.

Silva played De Bruyne's future role in the second half on the weekend, and found Bacary Sagna's marauding run. The Frenchman played a delicious cross inside, leaving Sterling the simple task of recording his first City goal. It came just 90 seconds after the restart.

The injured Pablo Zabaleta and the departed James Milner combined beautifully down the right for City, and when Zabaleta returns from the treatment table, he can be expected to be fielded behind De Bruyne pretty quickly.

Sterling and Aleksandar Kolarov's work on the left flank has been pivotal to much of City's success so far this term. If De Bruyne can emulates that on the right with Zabaleta or Sagna, the two wings - along with the quadrumvirate of Toure, Fernandinho, Silva, and Sergio Aguero - make City an increasingly frightening proposition.