De Bruyne arrival caps statement summer from Manchester City
Since signing Sergio Aguero in 2011, Manchester City have repeatedly failed to bring in any attacking talent worthy of either playing alongside or standing in for the mercurial Argentine.
Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Jesus Navas and latterly Wilfried Bony are players signed for (relatively) significant sums who have struggled to make a positive impact at the Etihad Stadium, whether Aguero has been on the pitch or the sidelines.
Negredo's early season goals were important in 2013-14, Jesus Navas currently brings balance to Manuel Pellegrini's new system and Bony may yet get his chance, but for a club laying down roots in Manchester, these are not players who will leave a legacy.
Having failed to defend their Premier League title, City are starting from scratch again. This summer, though, they have sent a message not just to the English game, but to Europe as well.
While many on the continent may have been laughing behind their hands as the Blues splashed out £49 million on another Premier League product, Raheem Sterling, there is no doubt that they have locked down an exceptional talent with his best years ahead of him, who is making an instant contribution.
Following that up with the £55m capture of Kevin De Bruyne really will have made everybody sit up and take notice.
There was a feeling among City officials that they had encountered particularly resistant negotiations with Wolfsburg as a result of being seen in Germany as fully paid-up members of the
nouveau riche. It was a similar story with Edin Dzeko in early 2011, and when signing Jerome Boateng from Hamburg six months earlier. Prising away De Bruyne, the Bundesliga's best player, did not go down well with those already concerned about English football's increasing financial might.
Indeed, when shopping for forwards in the last four years, City had not surpassed the £38 million they spent on Aguero in 2011. This summer they've done it twice, and by quite a margin.
If City have been slack in their attempts to bolster their forward line (the summer of 2013 can most generously be described as complacent), that is no longer the case. Over £100m has been parted with for two players that will give their rivals, at home and abroad, sleepless nights.
The balance in the team at present has got City playing some of their best football of the Abu Dhabi years; the performance in the defeat Chelsea is up there with the very best. The cover afforded to Bacary Sagna and Aleksandar Kolarov by Sterling and Navas has provided an extra safety net, as has the continued improvement of Eliaquim Mangala and the resurgence of captain Vincent Kompany.
Not to mention the £31.7m arrival of Nicolas Otamendi. The Argentine is a no-nonsense centre-back who is also comfortable on the ball, the type who could well become a club hero. His most successful route into the team may be in place of Kompany rather than alongside him, but it gives City incredible depth at the back, with Zabaleta and Clichy still to return.
City, for sure, have a squad which could easily win the Premier League. They
should win it. The vast majority of domestic league matches are won simply by boasting better players than the opposition, and given the second-placed finish last time out despite a patchy campaign, anything less than a third title in five seasons would be a let-down.
There are issues to be addressed in midfield, however; ones which mean a Champions League semi-final is still a bridge too far. Whether or not De Bruyne adopts a deeper role - which has been mooted by some City officials - Yaya's fitness will need to be looked after, while Fabian Delph is untested at the top level.
But City can get on with the 2015-16 campaign knowing that those problems can wait until next summer; they have revitalised their attack, signed the best centre-back on the market and, in the process, assembled the best squad in the country. Premier League success and a domestic trophy should be the minimum... for now.