Everything Manchester City Fans Need to Know About New Signing Kevin De Bruyne

It didn’t take long for Manchester City to break their transfer record twice this summer. 

According to BBC Sport, Raheem Sterling, who joined from Liverpool in July, cost City an initial £44 million, possibly rising to £49 million. But just a few weeks later, that record was beaten when Kevin De Bruyne signed from Wolfsburg for £55 million (via BBC Sport). 

There’s pressure on De Bruyne to deliver. He is seen as the final piece of City’s attacking jigsaw, a player capable of taking the Blues to new heights. Given his form over the last 18 months, it’s easy to see why there are high expectations.

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But what do we know about De Bruyne?

He was born on June 28, 1991 in Drongen, Belgium, a town known for its medieval monastery, Drongen Abbey, which was founded in the seventh century.

He made his first-team debut for Genk at the age of 18 (having previously been at Gent), and his rise since then has been rapid. He quickly became a star of the Belgium top flight, making 108 appearances for Genk, and he made his debut for the Belgium national side against Finland in August 2010 when he was just 19.

He moved to Chelsea for around £7 million in January 2012, but he failed to establish himself in the side. Jose Mourinho questioned his attitude, but successful loan spells back at Genk and later at Werder Bremen saw interest in him grow.

Wolfsburg signed him in January 2014 for £18 million, and his career really began to take off. He became a star of the Bundesliga.

De Bruyne scored 20 goals in 72 matches for Wolfsburg—an impressive return given goal creation is very much the central aspect of his style. His 21 assists last season is a Bundesliga record and speaks volumes about his ability to lay on chances for others. He’s an unselfish player, one who values assists and making chances for others over any other aspect of the game.

He spent the majority of last season playing in the No. 10 role for Wolfsburg, the position which arguably suits his game best. However, at City there is more competition for places, and with David Silva playing so well there so far this season, De Bruyne may have to start on the right in place of Jesus Navas in order to get himself in the side initially.

With Sterling, Silva and De Bruyne likely to be Pellegrini’s first-choice attacking trio behind Sergio Aguero in attack, it’s unlikely they will take up static roles. Fluidity will be key, with each player capable of interchanging positions during a game, making it difficult for defenders to know whom to pick up.

In De Bruyne’s last 21 matches for Belgium—he has 33 caps in total—he has managed a goal or an assist every 109 minutes. His vital statistics, for both club and country, show why City were so keen to sign him this summer as they look to engineer a better title challenge than they managed last season.

His agent, Patrick De Koster, said City did everything they could to land De Bruyne, likening the experience to being in a film. “It was impressive, as in a movie,” De Koster said.

“We flew from there by private jet, were picked up in limousines.”

“We also thought we would have a lot of work to find a new home, open a bank account, arrange phone, a car…but in three hours it was all arranged.”

De Bruyne, who cites Zinedine Zidane as his favourite all-time player, will hope to replicate his form in Germany and pay City back for the faith they have shown in him. If he does, City’s chances of silverware will increase significantly.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.