Why the return of Manchester City’s ‘Ginger Prince’ means its game over before the season has even begun

THIS is a love letter to the future. This is an ode to what is to come.

As a Manchester City fan this goes entirely against the grain; against instincts that are hard-wired into the psyche. Never, ever get carried away. Never, ever presume a sunny outcome. A thousand calamities snatched from the jaws of triumph have taught me that.

Yet how can I not feel incredibly optimistic about a season that right now is pristine and perfect for everyone regardless of their allegiance? How can I not feel the same giddy excitement that a kid has on Christmas Eve when he spies a badly hidden box, wrapped and ribboned that to him is as big as a house?

And now a brilliant assist from De Bruyne to set up another pre-season goal for Raheem Sterling pic.twitter.com/QncHLoCMvD

— Goal (@goal) July 27, 2019

At the time of writing, we are six days away from a spiky but ultimately meaningless Community Shield clash with Liverpool and less than a fortnight from the resumption of the very best of days for Blues and already we have seen a glimpse of the sumptuous fare that lies ahead. To summarise City’s quartet of far-flung friendlies Raheem Sterling has looked well and truly on it while Bernardo Silva has – as per – played a standard of football on fast-forward that to mere mortals requires due care and attention.

Really though City’s pre-season excursion to Asia has all been about the celebration of their returning maestro; leaner, fitter, and potentially better than ever before. Kevin de Bruyne, the Ginger Prince, is back.

If that doesn’t strike fear into the heart of any individual, not of a blue persuasion then it can only be imagined that they yawn through horror films and eat cereal with a fork. Last season was one littered with injury and turmoil for the Belgian with 156 days of absence and even with 14 starts so many of them saw him inhibited and minimised, scared of another setback.

One of my favourite goals by De Bruyne pic.twitter.com/VH2h7igcf8

— َ (@mcfcAB) July 26, 2019

What we got last term was just the occasional flash of who De Bruyne really is; a reminder via a clever pass or forceful orchestration of his previous campaign where he was so peerless that the narrative approaching its conclusion should have been whether Mo Salah could fend off rivals for the Player of the Year runner-up spot. For those ten months, he was both everything to Manchester City and the cherry on top. It was – and I don’t say this lightly – the most amazing season-long performance by a single player that I have ever witnessed in the Premier League. That includes Yaya Toure in 2013/14. That includes Henry a decade before.

So of course City missed him last year. Who wouldn’t? Even with a squad so advanced of the rest that English football was effectively completed compensations still had to be made and compromises too. There will be no further need for that now and may God have mercy on whatever passes for the top flight’s soul.

“I did nothing for three weeks. I just wanted to be away,” the midfielder said on tour. “Physically you can be OK but I think it is more mentally. It is tough to go two years straight for everybody and not have a proper break.”

What that long overdue downtime has done was clearly apparent in every game, even if it was against inferior opponents. De Bruyne looked hangry and relaxed simultaneously, offering up nonchalant flourishes of ingenuity that made you hack out a noise of surprise not unlike an accidental burst from a submachine gun. You don’t normally see such artistry in friendlies – that are usually reserved for getting a mile or two in the legs – but here there were exquisite touches and invention to spare and while the 28-year-old has been chilling out, getting the constant demands of elite football out of his system, he has also evidently been further swotting up on trigonometry while listening to Mozart.

This pass isn't normal, De Bruyne is a different player pic.twitter.com/uZvUkvgXdp

— π (@Leroyology) July 20, 2019

One particular volleyed cross-field ball still astounds a full week on and all told it was art, high-art committed to a canvas players normally crayon on before the proper business is at hand.

That this reinvigorated genius slots into a team improved by repetition on their former brilliant selves blows the mind as too does the fact that he will scheme and create alongside another rebooted sonneteer in the form of David Silva who appears to be bang up for going out on a high. With new signing Rodri all precision engineering behind them a prediction can be made that at some point in the near distance the trio will construct a ninety-minute performance so masterful that it will be talked about until we’re urns of ash.

This is a love letter to the future and I for one cannot wait.