After Kevin De Bruyne’s announcement that he will be leaving Man City, Leeds fans might recall how he was partly responsible for a Premier League defeat.
Leeds fans might be dreaming that De Bruyne might look the way of Elland Road next season, but sadly, there is no chance of that happening.
Stranger things have happened, but first, the Whites need to actually confirm their Premier League status before making any moves.
The 49ers are looking at Premier League targets, so De Bruyne would, of course, fit into this category, but the owners will want to be sensible.
Adding to this, Leeds might remember something the Man City midfielder did, which ruined Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.
How Kevin De Bruyne stitched up Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United
Leeds will be hoping they face the elite of the Premier League next season, and when Bielsa was in charge, they did through De Bruyne.
Farke will have to match the talent of the top flight to have any chance of staying up, as Leeds have been predicted to spend over £100m if promoted.
This might be a second-time lucky scenario, as when they were last in the Premier League, the Whites spent £108m in their first season back.
During that first season it didn’t help what De Bruyne was up to behind the scenes which hindered Bielsa.
When Leeds met Wolves at the start of the 2020/21 season, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men ended up winning 1-0 at Elland Road.
But it’s what the Man City legend did that exposed the Whites, and Leeds fans might never forgive him for this.
Speaking to Wolves’ club media in 2020, defender Leander Dendoncker spoke about how De Bruyne gave away Leeds’ plans in messages to his Belgian teammate.
“That’s just the way they play. They go man against man, and I don’t think we or any team is used to that,” Dendoncker said on Leeds.
“De Bruyne told me they played them before the international break, and he told me you will see that it will be very hard because they go man to man.
“But he also said that after 30 minutes they leave spaces, and I think that’s what you could see.
“We were looking how to find the spaces, how to deal with them, and I think in the second half we managed it way better.”
De Bruyne turned messages into reality when Man City played Leeds in 2021
It’s all well and good for De Bruyne to suggest this to Dendoncker, which evidently worked, but the midfielder even went one better.
Obviously, it’s known that Bielsa ‘galvanised’ Leeds, but this doesn’t mean he had some horrible performances as manager.
Probably his worst as Leeds manager came in a meeting with De Bruyne, as his City side demolished Leeds 7-0 the season after the Wolves win.
The Belgian maestro scored twice and explained exactly how City found it so easy to play against Bielsa’s side, bringing up the familiar point made to Dendoncker.
In a pre-match interview, De Bruyne said: “I just think we played really well as a team. We started well, and we found the openings at the right time.”
Bielsa was known for his man-to-man marking and leaving openings available to the opposition, and De Bruyne took advantage of this not only on the pitch but also off it.
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