DE BRUYNE HAILS CITY’S ‘UNSUNG HERO’ HAALAND Erling has not gone beneath my radar
KEVIN DE BRUYNE has hailed the ‘unsung hero’ of Manchester City’s push for a record fourth straight Premier League title as 38-goal striker Erling Haaland.
While Phil Foden was named the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year, and Rodri, right, has gained fresh plaudits for his midfield shows, Haaland has somewhat slipped under the radar.
After plundering a record 52 goals in his Treble-winning debut season with City, it was always going to be hard for him to repeat those heroics.
However the Norwegian still has 27 goals in the league this season, including both in the 2-0 win at Tottenham on Tuesday that has left Pep Guardiola’s side one win away from landing the title. Haaland can break the 40-goal barrier on Sunday, despite missing two months of the season through injury, when City hostWest Ham. He has all but won the Golden Boot for the second campaign running, and De Bruyne said: “The season he had last year and the numbers were so incredible and ridiculous.
“When you have a season where it’s a little bit less, people don’t appreciate what you’ve done. “But he has been amazing again. For Player of the Season, if I look at our team, I’d say either Phil or Rodri because of their importance.
“There are also some really good players in other teams – at Arsenal there’s been a few and Ollie Watkins has been amazing for Aston Villa.”
No team has managed to win the top division four times in a row, and
De Bruyne added: “You have to appreciate what you do throughout the whole year to be in this situation.
“People always talk about trophies but we work for 11 months to get to this situation.
“If you don’t enjoy it along the way, what does it really mean? That one game, if we win or don’t win, it’s not going to change how I feel we did this season.
“I know there’s a lot of talk after but the way I see it is that this team has been incredible after the successes we’ve had in the last few years.
“It’s credit to the whole team to be in this situation again.”
De Bruyne said he never dreamt of winning five league titles when he joined City in 2015 – now he is on the brink of a sixth.
“When I came here it was a very different team,” said the Belgium playmaker.
“A team full of legends who won before and an older team.
“In Pep’s first season a lot of people were in their 30s, so we needed a rebuild and I was probably one of the first pieces. I would have never expected to win five titles or all the things we’ve done.”