“Score 20-25 goals every season”- Kevin De Bruyne excited to work with Erling Halaand at Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne says he is excited to work with “top striker” Erling Haaland at Manchester City, admitting the arrival of the 21-year-old might enable him to build on his already impressive assist figures.
Manchester City won the race for Norwegian striker Erling Haaland’s signature before the Premier League season came to a close, pouncing on his bargain release clause to sign the 21-year-old, who ends his time at Borussia Dortmund with a total of 86 goals in just 89 games.
Haaland joins a City side who haven’t struggled for goals but have needed contributions from all over the pitch to make up for the absence of a natural striker, and De Bruyne is looking forward to having such a bonafide goal threat back in the team.
Speaking to Belgian media outlet HLN, De Bruyne said, ” Erling Haaland is a top striker. His move should help us to grow as a team. Everybody expects a lot. They’ve always been looking for a number nine, but I think it’ll be good to have that striker that maybe scores 20-25 goals a season.”
“Maybe (Haaland’s arrival might help me too). There have been years that I have had more assists (than this season). But my chance creation and other things have remained consistent. Numbers are a part of football but they never tell you the full story,” the Belgian international added.
No other City player came close to the 87 chances De Bruyne created in the Premier League in 2021-22, with fellow midfielder Bernardo Silva second on 59.
Kevin De Bruyne won the 2021-22 Premier League Player of the Season award
De Bruyne was named Premier League Player of the Season as City won their fourth top-flight title in five seasons last month, with the midfielder top-scoring for Pep Guardiola’s men with 15 league goals during the 2021-22 campaign, also adding eight assists.
Despite his impressive goalscoring return, the Belgian fell some way short of his tally of 20 Premier League assists in the 2019 -20 campaign, a joint single-season record in the competition, along with Thierry Henry in 2002-03 but De Bruyne’s attempts to record similar figures in the future could be aided by the presence of the Norwegian marksmen.
Read More: Manchester City set to lock horns against Liverpool for the Community Shield on 30th July
Sujeeth Shetty
(766 Articles Published)