Kevin De Bruyne ended up playing centre-forward and scoring the winning goal against Sevilla in the Champions League, and says he would be happy to try the same position again if needed in the Manchester derby.
“I don’t have a lot of experience there, but if I am asked to do it I will,” the Manchester City forward said. City go to Old Trafford with their main striker Sergio Agüero and playmaker David Silva ruled out through injury, and though Wilfried Bony is available it was the reshuffle that followed his withdrawal that led to the late European winner.
“I am just someone who likes to play football,” De Bruyne said. “It doesn’t matter where I play. I have played everywhere in my career and I always try and do my best for the team. If you make a mistake, it happens, you just have to accept it and move on. You cannot always play to your best level but as long as you try then no one can criticise you.”
Manchester United may well make special arrangements for De Bruyne, who, after Agüero, has been City’s standout player so far, but the Belgium forward has coped with double marking before. “If they put two people on me, then that just means someone else has more space,” he said. “I think we have such a great team it would actually be very difficult to put two people on one guy in a big game. If they do that someone else will be free to create chances.
“A derby is always something special, there will be a lot of atmosphere and high hopes for both teams. They are the same everywhere, I think, and I have played in them in Belgium and Germany.
“If you win your supporters are very happy, though in the end it is just three points and at this stage of the season it doesn’t change a lot. But if we win at United’s ground we can put a bit of pressure on them. If we can get the three points I will be happy.”
De Bruyne’s start at City has been so sparkling that José Mourinho has been forced to defend his decision to sell the player to Wolfsburg for £18m last year – a bargain considering the club record £55m City paid to bring him back to England – though the 24-year-old does not feel he has anything to prove.
“I did that already in Germany,” he said. “I had a fantastic one and a half years and now I am trying to build further on that. I have not really looked at what has been happening at Chelsea, I have been busy with my own career. A lot can still happen in terms of the season.
“There is a long way to go. If we lose two or three games and Chelsea win they are back in it. There is pressure on everybody not to make mistakes.”
