Man City have a major Kevin De Bruyne question to answer

Kevin De Bruyne sees his Manchester City contract expire in 2025 and surely a renewal is in the pipeline.

He is perhaps the next in line for a statue at the Etihad and may go down as the best player to ever don a Blues jersey. He helped City reach the promised land as the Treble was secured but this summer there seems to have been a slight shift in forward planning.

Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte - players who were all major cogs of the City dynasty under Pep Guardiola - left this summer and the club had to think laterally about the future.

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Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku, both 21, have added renewed hunger to the side while Mateo Kovacic has offered valuable experience to the midfield. The team are going through a rough patch having lost three of the last four matches but Premier League followers will surmise that this is probably just a blip before the juggernaut truly starts rolling.

Rodri has shown to be City’s most important player in De Bruyne’s long-term injury absence. City lost all three matches he was banned for following his red card against Nottingham Forest last month.

City have, though, somewhat managed to cope without De Bruyne. Of course he is missed and Erling Haaland has not had the service this season he was accustomed to last term given the playmaker’s unavailability.

Julian Alvarez has played superbly in De Bruyne’s spot, efficiently duetting with Phil Foden when the England star cuts inside from the wing. It is taking two players to make up for the loss of De Bruyne, so great is the talisman.

The defeat to