Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha believes that the "hungriest version" of Kevin De Bruyne will provide Pep Guardiola's side with a significant boost in their quest to win three trophies during the second half of the season.
De Bruyne has been sidelined for five months with a torn hamstring sustained in City's opening-day win over Burnley back in August, but he has since quickly made his presence felt across three substitute appearances against Huddersfield Town, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
The playmaker registered an assist just 17 minutes into his first cameo appearance off the bench as City put Huddersfield to the sword 5-0 in the FA Cup third round on January 7, before he inspired the Citizens to a 3-2 victory at Newcastle in the Premier League with a superb equaliser and a stunning pass to set up Oscar Bobb for a stoppage-time winner.
De Bruyne's latest act as a substitute was at Spurs on Friday, when his inswinging corner led to Nathan Ake poking home an 88th-minute winner from close range to send City through to the fifth round of the FA Cup and extend their record winning away run in the competition to 12 matches.
Man City's No.17 has been welcomed back into a side that endured some challenges towards the backend of 2023 in his absence, particularly in the Premier League, but they remain firmly in the mix to retain their crown and are unsurprisingly among the favourites once again to lift the FA Cup and Champions League later this year.
Speaking to Sports Mole following the release of a brand new BBC Sounds podcast 'Planet Premier League' for which he is joined by Cesc Fabregas, Onuoha has talked up how a refreshed De Bruyne can provide City with an option that "most teams could only dream of."
"I think the fact that [Man City] are bringing back probably the hungriest version of Kevin De Bruyne that we have seen in years, which is crazy considering how successful they've been in years gone by, means a lot," said Onuoha.
"He's still one of the best players in the Premier League and you could see that from the moment he arrived back on the field (against Newcastle). The way he moves, the way he sees the game, some of the things he can do with and without the ball at his feet, he's sees a different game.
"For Guardiola, the team's done very, very well to this point and they could still have gone on and won things if Kevin hadn't come back, but the boy is back and as you saw at Newcastle, he's got something there which is very tough to defend against.
"I think his know-how about how to push on in the second half of the season and his desire now to be back fit and healthy and available for the team is a huge boost. City are getting a youthful spirit delivered with a very, very experienced and talented player, so I think he's a huge part of [City's] run-in. It doesn't guarantee anything, but he does give them an option which most teams could only dream of."
De Bruyne, a five-time Premier League winner with Man City, has been an instrumental cog in Guardiola's machine during his eight-year spell at the club, scoring 97 goals and providing 155 assists in 361 appearances across all competitions.
The Belgium international recently equalled Wayne Rooney's Premier League assist tally of 103 to move into joint-third on the all-time list, now just eight assists behind Cesc Fabregas in second and 59 adrift of Ryan Giggs at the summit.
Onuoha, who spent eight years at Man City between 2004 and 2012, believes that De Bruyne has earned the right to be ranked among the Premier League's all-time greatest midfielders along with other legendary names including Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira.
"[De Bruyne] is part of the conversation, which means a lot because there's a sense of nostalgia when we talk about Scholes, Vieira, Keane, Gerrard, Lampard," said the former Citizens defender. "These are guys that you would think would never be moved from that position, and when Kevin came back to England to play for City, people were saying the price was too high, he's no good.
"Eight years on, people say City are definitely going to win the league now because he's back, and that weight with your name suggests that you are one of the best. He's got it from a stats perspective, he's got it from a visual perspective and he's got it from a records perspective in terms of league titles.
"Recency bias would obviously give him a real strong advantage, but just the mere fact that he can be put in the same conversation as some of the all-time greats of the Premier League, which some people hold so dearly, that says it all."
Onuoha added: "If Cesc has got the second-most assists in the Premier League, Cesc should be in there as well. I think all of those guys named have played in different systems, but I think for the way football has changed across the years, Kevin can fit into a midfield that's played the way it's played today.
"If you want to go back and say my all-time Premier League team features a 4-4-2, all of a sudden you don't see space for him, but because he's so good you'd probably change your mind and call it a 4-3-3 or have [a formation with] a 10 playing in there, and the moment you do that, he's the number one candidate to be in that space creating chances for the team."
De Bruyne has developed into a versatile midfielder during his time at Man City, but he has predominantly operated in a central role behind the striker, where Phil Foden has recently excelled in the Belgian's absence.
Julian Alvarez initially played in a central attacking midfield role behind striker Erling Haaland at the start of the campaign, but when the Norwegian goal machine picked up a foot injury in early December, Alvarez moved into the centre-forward spot which allowed Foden to take up the number 10 role.
Since moving into a central position, Foden has scored four goals and registered three assists in Man City's last 10 games across all competitions, claiming the man-of-the-match award on three occasions during this period.
"It's good to see Phil Foden having a big say in that central role, it's good to see him doing well," said Onuoha. "Obviously things are going to be interesting now that the king is back in De Bruyne."
Asked if Foden's role in Guardiola's team will change now that that De Bruyne has returned, Onuoha replied: "It's tough that one. If De Bruyne comes back in, do you say Foden is going to go out wide, so Foden is playing instead of Bernardo Silva? I love Bernardo Silva. These are the sort of questions that need to be figured out.
"I think for the manager Guardiola, it's [finding] the right balance because he's tries to put out a team that can win any game, but he knows that every game is different. For one game he might see De Bruyne and Foden playing centrally, another game you might see Foden out wide, another game you might see Bernardo Silva out wide, you might see Alvarez playing in one of the attacking midfield slots alongside Haaland (up front), so he has options.
"I like the fact that [Guardiola] looks at the opposition and tries to find out what is the best way to beat them. I don't know who he's going to play, the idea of 'Pep Roulette' this season has been a thing just because of availability, but [when players return for the] second half of the season, just up until it's crunch time, [team selection] will be based upon the task ahead I'd say."
Meanwhile, Onuoha has had his say on where Man City stand in the Premier League title race and has discussed which teams could challenge the reigning champions for top spot.
The Citizens currently sit second in the top-flight table, level on points with Arsenal and Aston Villa in third and fourth place respectively, while Liverpool are five points clear at the summit, although Guardiola's men have a game in hand. body check tags ::
