New signing Kevin De Bruyne has been hailed as “the perfect player” by Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini. The young Belgian scored the stoppage-time winner in a hard fought match against Sevilla at the Etihad Stadium.
De Bruyne’s fifth goal for Manchester City has put the side on course for the Champions League group stages and the manager is delighted with the £54 million record signing.
“We bought Kevin because we thought he was a very creative player, he has goals in him,” Pellegrini said after the match.
“This team always tries to play attractive and offensive football and for that you need good players. In all senses he was the perfect player to arrive to our team.
“I think it was very important for him to score. We tried to make some change because we weren’t getting into their box or creating chances. Fortunately we created that play that produced the goal.”
Pellegrini left City captain Vincent Kompany on the bench and refused to say if he would play agasint Manchester United.
“Today is Wednesday then we’ll have to think about the derby and see how the players recover,” he said. “We have a lot of different things to think about.
“Vincent is coming back from a long injury after a month out so it was a risk to give him this responsibility in an important game.”
He also praised the center-back partnership of Otamendi and Mangala.
“I think that Nicolás Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala are playing very well,” Pellegrini said. “They played well against Bournemouth and Newcastle, when we won 5-1 and 6-1.”
