Player of the Month - De Bruyne

Wolfsburg’s whizzkid had a hand in five goals in November

Kevin De Bruyne (born 28th June 1991) is having a great season and is proving hard to stop. He was involved in five goals in November alone, assisting four. No other player was involved in more than four goals in that timeframe.

Setting up goals is a particular speciality of the technically-gifted Belgian: He is the only player to already have nine assists to their name this season. The next best player, Bremen’s Zlatko Junuzovic, has set up five goals.

De Bruyne has therefore played a huge part in VfL Wolfsburg’s successful campaign so far: The Wolves sit second at the moment, with only record champions FC Bayern Munich ahead of them.

DE BRUYNE MAKES HIS FIRST-TEAM DEBUT FOR GENK AT 17

Kevin De Bruyne took his first footballing steps at KVV Drongen. He also played for KAA Gent and KRC Genk during his youth career. He made his first-team debut for Genk at 17 years old during the 2008/09 season and made 71 league appearances for them in total, scoring 13 goals.

His talent was recognised by many clubs, including Chelsea. The London club snapped up the Belgian at the start of 2012, but loaned him straight back out to Genk for the remainder of the season.

Even during his time with Bremen – from August 2012 until July 2013 – De Bruyne was under contract at Chelsea, only moving to Germany on another loan spell. That finally changed when Wolfsburg signed him.

AN INSTANT HIT AT BREMEN

Werder Bremen made a real coup in the transfer market in August 2012, securing a season-long loan for the then relatively unknown Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian immediately adjusted to his surroundings and became a top performer; he scored 10 goals that season and set up a further nine. With nine assists, De Bruyne was the sixth best in the division in that regard.

There were also only six players involved in more goals than the Belgian, but none of them were a Bundesliga newbie in 2012/13 like De Bruyne. He also had a hand in 38 percent of Werder’s 50 goals – only Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier was involved in a bigger percentage of a side’s goals in the league (39 percent).

INVOLVED IN A BUNDESLIGA GOAL EVERY 117 MINUTES

De Bruyne’s brilliant season at Bremen certainly made him a well-known player in Germany. When he returned to the Bundesliga in the 2013/14 winter break after signing for Wolfsburg, he picked up where he had left off at Werder, scoring three times and setting up a further six goals. He’s done even better this season: In just 13 top-flight games, De Bruyne has had a hand in 10 goals, equating to one every 117 minutes. His tally of nine assists has already matched his personal best from his debut Bundesliga campaign in 2012/13.

INVOLVED IN 40 PERCENT OF WOLFSBURG'S GOALS

De Bruyne has been granted plenty of freedom in the VfL attack, with coach Dieter Hecking keen for the Belgian to express his qualities. That approach is bearing fruit, especially considering the share of Wolfsburg goals that De Bruyne has been involved in: He has scored or assisted 10 of the Wolves’ 25 league goals in 2014/15, an impressive 40 percent.

ONLY FABREGAS HAS ASSISTED MORE GOALS

De Bruyne's performances stand out on a European level as well. Only Cesc Fabregas (10) of Chelsea, the Belgian's former club, has assisted more goals than the Wolfsburg player (9).

Looking at shot assists in Europe’s top leagues, only Marseille’s Dimitri Payet (58) has provided more than De Bruyne (50), but Payet has also played two matches more.

SHOT ASSISTS APLENTY IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE

Wolfsburg’s fate is still in their own hands in terms of reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League, with a point away to Lille in their last group match being enough to see them through. De Bruyne has shone in this competition as well, assisting 27 shots – no other player has set up more than 15.

Two of those shots have resulted in goals, while the Belgian has also netted three times himself. The highlight so far for De Bruyne came on match-day 4, when he contributed one goal and two assists in VfL’s 5-1 victory over FK Krasnodar.

BEST BELGIAN AT THE 2014 WORLD CUP

De Bruyne also came to the fore at the most significant competition in world football. The Wolfsburg midfielder was the only Belgian player to have a hand in half of the six goals his country scored during the 2014 World Cup, scoring once and providing two assists.

Belgium’s last-16 tie against the USA went into extra time and De Bruyne rescued his country, scoring one goal and providing one assist in a 2-1 win after 120 minutes. Belgium were then eliminated in the quarterfinals after a narrow 1-0 loss to eventual runners-up Argentina.