De Bruyne arrival caps statement summer from Manchester City
Since signing Sergio Aguero in 2011, Manchester City have repeatedly failed to bring in any attacking talent worthy of either playing alongside or standing in for the mercurial Argentine.
Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Jesus Navas and latterly Wilfried Bony are players signed for (relatively) significant sums who have struggled to make a positive impact at the Etihad Stadium, whether Aguero has been on the pitch or the sidelines.
Negredo's early season goals were important in 2013-14, Jesus Navas currently brings balance to Manuel Pellegrini's new system and Bony may yet get his chance, but for a club laying down roots in Manchester, these are not players who will leave a legacy.
Having failed to defend their Premier League title, City are starting from scratch again. This summer, though, they have sent a message not just to the English game, but to Europe as well.
While many on the continent may have been laughing behind their hands as the Blues splashed out £49 million on another Premier League product, Raheem Sterling, there is no doubt that they have locked down an exceptional talent with his best years ahead of him, who is making an instant contribution.
Following that up with the £55m capture of Kevin De Bruyne really will have made everybody sit up and take notice.
There was a feeling among City officials that they had encountered particularly resistant negotiations with Wolfsburg as a result of being seen in Germany as fully paid-up members of thenouveau riche. It was a similar story with Edin Dzeko in early 2011, and when signing Jerome Boateng from Hamburg six months earlier. Prising away De Bruyne, the Bundesliga's best player, did not go down well with those already concerned about English football's increasing financial might.
Indeed, when shopping for forwards in the last four years, City had not surpassed the £38 million they spent on Aguero in 2011. This summer they've done it twice, and by quite a margin.
If City have been slack in their attempts to bolster their forward line (the summer of 2013 can most generously be described as complacent), that is no longer the case. Over £100m has been parted with for two players that will give their rivals, at home and abroad, sleepless nights.
The balance in the team at present has got City playing some of their best football of the Abu Dhabi years; the performance in the defeat Chelsea is up there with the very best. The cover afforded to Bacary Sagna and Aleksandar Kolarov by Sterling and Navas has provided an extra safety net, as has the continued improvement of Eliaquim Mangala and the resurgence of captain Vincent Kompany.
Not to mention the £31.7m arrival of Nicolas Otamendi. The Argentine is a no-nonsense centre-back who is also comfortable on the ball, the type who could well become a club hero. His most successful route into the team may be in place of Kompany rather than alongside him, but it gives City incredible depth at the back, with Zabaleta and Clichy still to return.
City, for sure, have a squad which could easily win the Premier League. Theyshouldwin it. The vast majority of domestic league matches are won simply by boasting better players than the opposition, and given the second-placed finish last time out despite a patchy campaign, anything less than a third title in five seasons would be a let-down.
There are issues to be addressed in midfield, however; ones which mean a Champions League semi-final is still a bridge too far. Whether or not De Bruyne adopts a deeper role - which has been mooted by some City officials - Yaya's fitness will need to be looked after, while Fabian Delph is untested at the top level.
But City can get on with the 2015-16 campaign knowing that those problems can wait until next summer; they have revitalised their attack, signed the best centre-back on the market and, in the process, assembled the best squad in the country. Premier League success and a domestic trophy should be the minimum... for now.
CRISIS BREWING FOR MOURINHO... BUT NOT CHELSEA
Four games into the new season, it may be a little early to yell 'crisis'. But Jose Mourinho teams don't play like this. He's famously never lasted more than three seasons at a club but even in his final, tumultuous campaign at Real Madrid his team were still performing well enough; it's just that he was fighting battles with everybody in the vicinity.
Already this season he's fallen out with his medical staff in public and, depending on who you believe, has locked horns with John Terry, too. But what will be of more pressing concern is that his players on the pitch look like strangers. Four games have yielded just one win and some truly shocking defending in every match. They've conceded nine goals already; last season it took them until the last weekend of October to ship as many.
Mourinho's always said he'd stay at Stamford Bridge as long as Roman Abramovich wanted him, which always appeared, to this observer at least, as a way to leave himself some wiggle room in case he fancied a change of scenery (read, 'Old Trafford').
Chelsea have been here before, of course. Abramovich has not been shy to pull the trigger when his managers have not been performing up to his standards, including Mourinho in 2007. The club, somehow, always move on even after chopping and changing the man in charge.
Mourinho, though, must now find a new way to rally the troops and rekindle the indomitable spirit that has been the hallmark of his great sides at Porto, Inter, Chelsea and Madrid. If he doesn't - or if he doesn'twant to- he'll be out of the door again.
MANCHES TER UNITED ARROGANT OR NAIVE?
Mourinho could find a home at Old Trafford sooner rather than later if Louis van Gaal and Ed Woodward don't conjure up some inspirational signings in the next 36 hours.
Woodward was the toast of the Stretford End in mid-July when he wrapped up the signings of Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Matteo Darmian in one weekend. Sergio Romero aside, there has been nothing since.
Nothing but embarrassment, that is. Dithering over Pedro was a clanger. It is clear that Gareth Bale, Thomas Muller and Neymar will not be coming this summer, either. Fans will not be placated by good intentions.
It was said before the Swansea City game that Javier Hernandez will be allowed to leave and that United do not expect to bring anybody else in. If true, that would be madess, pure and simple.
Even if you ignore Wayne Rooney's current bad form, he cannot be expected to lead the line at home and abroad all season. It just can't be done. The alternatives (Marouane Fellaini and James Wilson) are, for a top club, laughable.
Not to mention the defence. Before Swansea it had been a brilliant start to the season for the back five but it unravelled pretty quickly, and the pursuit of Sergio Ramos can ultimately be filed under 'waste of time'. The current unit will not be capable of even challenging for the title, let alone winning it.
Gary Neville said a week ago that Arsene Wenger was either arrogant or naive to continue with his flawed approach to buying players. If - and it is still an if - Manchester United have not made any significant additions by tomorrow evening, it is an accusation that could rightly be levelled at Van Gaal.
Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Jesus Navas and latterly Wilfried Bony are players signed for (relatively) significant sums who have struggled to make a positive impact at the Etihad Stadium, whether Aguero has been on the pitch or the sidelines.
Negredo's early season goals were important in 2013-14, Jesus Navas currently brings balance to Manuel Pellegrini's new system and Bony may yet get his chance, but for a club laying down roots in Manchester, these are not players who will leave a legacy.
Having failed to defend their Premier League title, City are starting from scratch again. This summer, though, they have sent a message not just to the English game, but to Europe as well.
While many on the continent may have been laughing behind their hands as the Blues splashed out £49 million on another Premier League product, Raheem Sterling, there is no doubt that they have locked down an exceptional talent with his best years ahead of him, who is making an instant contribution.
Following that up with the £55m capture of Kevin De Bruyne really will have made everybody sit up and take notice.
There was a feeling among City officials that they had encountered particularly resistant negotiations with Wolfsburg as a result of being seen in Germany as fully paid-up members of thenouveau riche. It was a similar story with Edin Dzeko in early 2011, and when signing Jerome Boateng from Hamburg six months earlier. Prising away De Bruyne, the Bundesliga's best player, did not go down well with those already concerned about English football's increasing financial might.
Indeed, when shopping for forwards in the last four years, City had not surpassed the £38 million they spent on Aguero in 2011. This summer they've done it twice, and by quite a margin.
If City have been slack in their attempts to bolster their forward line (the summer of 2013 can most generously be described as complacent), that is no longer the case. Over £100m has been parted with for two players that will give their rivals, at home and abroad, sleepless nights.
The balance in the team at present has got City playing some of their best football of the Abu Dhabi years; the performance in the defeat Chelsea is up there with the very best. The cover afforded to Bacary Sagna and Aleksandar Kolarov by Sterling and Navas has provided an extra safety net, as has the continued improvement of Eliaquim Mangala and the resurgence of captain Vincent Kompany.
Not to mention the £31.7m arrival of Nicolas Otamendi. The Argentine is a no-nonsense centre-back who is also comfortable on the ball, the type who could well become a club hero. His most successful route into the team may be in place of Kompany rather than alongside him, but it gives City incredible depth at the back, with Zabaleta and Clichy still to return.
City, for sure, have a squad which could easily win the Premier League. Theyshouldwin it. The vast majority of domestic league matches are won simply by boasting better players than the opposition, and given the second-placed finish last time out despite a patchy campaign, anything less than a third title in five seasons would be a let-down.
There are issues to be addressed in midfield, however; ones which mean a Champions League semi-final is still a bridge too far. Whether or not De Bruyne adopts a deeper role - which has been mooted by some City officials - Yaya's fitness will need to be looked after, while Fabian Delph is untested at the top level.
But City can get on with the 2015-16 campaign knowing that those problems can wait until next summer; they have revitalised their attack, signed the best centre-back on the market and, in the process, assembled the best squad in the country. Premier League success and a domestic trophy should be the minimum... for now.
CRISIS BREWING FOR MOURINHO... BUT NOT CHELSEA
Four games into the new season, it may be a little early to yell 'crisis'. But Jose Mourinho teams don't play like this. He's famously never lasted more than three seasons at a club but even in his final, tumultuous campaign at Real Madrid his team were still performing well enough; it's just that he was fighting battles with everybody in the vicinity.
Already this season he's fallen out with his medical staff in public and, depending on who you believe, has locked horns with John Terry, too. But what will be of more pressing concern is that his players on the pitch look like strangers. Four games have yielded just one win and some truly shocking defending in every match. They've conceded nine goals already; last season it took them until the last weekend of October to ship as many.
Mourinho's always said he'd stay at Stamford Bridge as long as Roman Abramovich wanted him, which always appeared, to this observer at least, as a way to leave himself some wiggle room in case he fancied a change of scenery (read, 'Old Trafford').
Chelsea have been here before, of course. Abramovich has not been shy to pull the trigger when his managers have not been performing up to his standards, including Mourinho in 2007. The club, somehow, always move on even after chopping and changing the man in charge.
Mourinho, though, must now find a new way to rally the troops and rekindle the indomitable spirit that has been the hallmark of his great sides at Porto, Inter, Chelsea and Madrid. If he doesn't - or if he doesn'twant to- he'll be out of the door again.
MANCHES TER UNITED ARROGANT OR NAIVE?
Mourinho could find a home at Old Trafford sooner rather than later if Louis van Gaal and Ed Woodward don't conjure up some inspirational signings in the next 36 hours.
Woodward was the toast of the Stretford End in mid-July when he wrapped up the signings of Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Matteo Darmian in one weekend. Sergio Romero aside, there has been nothing since.
Nothing but embarrassment, that is. Dithering over Pedro was a clanger. It is clear that Gareth Bale, Thomas Muller and Neymar will not be coming this summer, either. Fans will not be placated by good intentions.
It was said before the Swansea City game that Javier Hernandez will be allowed to leave and that United do not expect to bring anybody else in. If true, that would be madess, pure and simple.
Even if you ignore Wayne Rooney's current bad form, he cannot be expected to lead the line at home and abroad all season. It just can't be done. The alternatives (Marouane Fellaini and James Wilson) are, for a top club, laughable.
Not to mention the defence. Before Swansea it had been a brilliant start to the season for the back five but it unravelled pretty quickly, and the pursuit of Sergio Ramos can ultimately be filed under 'waste of time'. The current unit will not be capable of even challenging for the title, let alone winning it.
Gary Neville said a week ago that Arsene Wenger was either arrogant or naive to continue with his flawed approach to buying players. If - and it is still an if - Manchester United have not made any significant additions by tomorrow evening, it is an accusation that could rightly be levelled at Van Gaal.
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