Kevin De Bruyne is confident he and the “dangerous” Raheem Sterling can create more magic for Manchester City – and show they can sparkle without Sergio Aguero and David Silva.
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The loss of the latter duo through injury has been a blow for the Etihad outfit as they face a crucial Champions League game with Sevilla on Wednesday and then the derby at Manchester United on Sunday.
But a crushing 5-1 win over Bournemouth, keeping them two points clear of Arsenal and United at the top of the Premier League, showed the depth of their attacking quality.
Sterling struck his first senior hat-trick in a role just behind striker Wilfried Bony, who grabbed a brace of his own, while De Bruyne was again a delight with his vision.
Boss Manuel Pellegrini believes the trio, who could eventually cost City around £131 million (Dh742.9m), will improve and justify their outlay.
And De Bruyne said: “It’s always a blow when you lose players (Aguero and Silva) of that quality.
“But we need to maintain this level and try to win without them. It’s not an excuse when we lose to say it was because they were not fit. If you want to win titles you need to get on and do it with the players you have, rather than worrying about the ones who are not fit. So we have to try to win these games without them.
“We know they are two great players on the attacking front for us, but there are other really good players here too. Maybe we (me and Sterling) don’t have the experience like the others, but we play really well together and the more games we get, the better we will do. I was on the left [against Bournemouth] and it was more like a 4-4-2.
8 – Kevin De Bruyne has scored four goals and assisted four more in his last six games in all competitions for Man City. Ace.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 17, 2015
“Raheem is very dangerous when he plays where he did. He’s really good, he’s only 20 so there’s a lot more to come. But he made the goals look easy and that will only help his confidence.”
While Sterling has found it difficult to find his best form since his £49m (Dh277.9m) move from Liverpool, De Bruyne has slotted seamlessly into the City set-up, a far cry from his struggles at Chelsea.
And he is unfazed by his record £54m (Dh306.2m) price tag as he added: “I’m not the only player here that they paid a lot of money for, so you don’t think about it.
“It’s very different to two or three years ago. Now I’m playing at a higher level and I will only improve over time. I’m very happy with the way things are going and just want to try to keep it up.
“We play Sevilla at home first and that’s a must-win game. Then we have the derby to look forward to and we know that’s special. If we can take three points over there it will be a really good way to stay at the top.”
