Kevin De Bruyne sets Manchester City standard Erling Haaland must match

Welcome aboard: now beat this. Manchester City knew they were getting a purring, relentless, blond machine of a player who uses strength, speed and guile to breach defences in equal measure before marking the fact with a zen-like pose. They just did not realise Kevin De Bruyne would tick every single one of those boxes on the week Erling Haaland agreed to address their need up front, such as it is.

The Belgium international replicated his new colleague’s trademark celebration after burying his third goal and if it was an act of kinship then it was also a reminder that, for all the understandable excitement around their new toy, City want for virtually nothing when De Bruyne is fully plugged in.

As De Bruyne stood with arms outstretched and fingers pursed, Phil Foden dashed across the Molineux turf to join in. Foden shook his head, a wry chuckle splashed across his face, and it did not take a professional lip-reader to interpret the comment he directed to someone out of shot.

“What is this guy like, eh?” was the gist. It was a reaction matched by those who were merely spectating from the sidelines: disbelief on the one hand; on the other, awareness that nobody should put such feats beyond a footballer who continues raising the bar six weeks before his 31st birthday.

The received wisdom is that a perfect hat-trick takes in left foot, right foot and header. Left foot, left foot and left foot fitted that description well enough in the case of De Bruyne’s first three. There was something for everyone: a precise, angled finish across José Sá for the first; an opportunistic capitalisation on the Wolves keeper’s uncertainty for the second; the third rasped into the far corner from range after a surge between two defenders.

It is