Manuel Pellegrini is confident Kevin De Bruyne’s £54m price tag will be forgotten at the end of the season when he has proved his quality.
The Belgian could make his debut at Crystal Palace on Saturday because of David Silva’s ankle problem. Despite De Bruyne becoming City’s most expensive player, Pellegrini shrugged off the cost on Friday.
The manager pointed to how Raheem Sterling, for whom City paid Liverpool £44m plus add-ons in July, has settled in instantly. “I will answer the same as I said about Raheem,” the manager said. “The price – maybe at the beginning everyone will talk about the price. At the end it’s part of the game of the player, the team, to demonstrate why we brought him here. There can be very cheap players – they play very well, and maybe expensive players, they don’t do so well.
“I am sure when I started with Raheem – within two or three games he demonstrated why we brought him here. I am sure with Kevin De Bruyne, at the end of the season, no one will remember how much we paid for him.”
De Bruyne previously had an unsuccessful spell with Chelsea but Pellegrini would not comment on that. “I can’t analyse that because I don’t have the information,” he said. “Different teams, different moments.”
While Silva is ruled out of the Palace game, Pellegrini believes the playmaker should be available for Tuesday evening’s visit of Juventus for their opening Champions League group match. “He is out for tomorrow [Saturday],” said the Chilean. “Maybe it is a risk for him to take a knock in the same spot, so maybe it is better for him to rest for a couple of days.”
Asked if Silva would be fit to face Juventus, Pellegrini said: “We hope so, we will see.”Fabian Delph could miss up to a month and a half due to the hamstring injury the midfielder suffered in the opening 10 seconds of England’s win over Switzerland on Tuesday. “It is not the same injury [as in pre-season],” Pellegrini said. “It is the same leg, the same muscle but not the same part.”
