“His season starts now” — Man City star hails Kevin De Bruyne impact after injury return

Rodri has showered praise on Kevin De Bruyne has he made a major impact upon returning to the pitch against Newcastle United on Saturday.

The Belgian returned to Premier League action at the weekend, making an immediate impact on Manchester City’s fortunes as they came from behind to beat Newcastle United away from home.

Coming on in the 69th minute while City were 1-2 down to Eddie Howe’s men, Dr Bruyne took control of the game, scoring one and assisting Oscar Bobb’s stoppage-time winner to see Pep Guardiola’s side snatch three points in a raucous St. James’s Park.

The victory means that City close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to just two points after 20 games so far this campaign, while this time last year City were five points behind Arsenal after a similar number of games.

Speaking after the match at St. James’s Park in an interview with the Daily Mail, fellow midfielder Rodri did not hold back in hailing De Bruyne’s timely return to the team after a long recovery from hamstring surgery.

“[Kevin De Bruyne] is unbelievable,” Rodri said. “Even with no physicality right now he has the talent to do these amazing things.

“There have been games where we were better in my opinion, but we didn’t have this extra talent to score.

“And with Kevin, everything is easy. This is the reality, we need him. All of these years, we need him now. He’s going to be so important. I told him that his season starts now.”

De Bruyne’s return comes at a crucial time for City, as they will soon see the return of the Champions League, squaring off with FC Copenhagen in the round of 16.

Those two-legs will be sandwiched in between another busy stretch of domestic fixtures as City could potentially still be in pole position to win the Premier League and the FA Cup as February rolls around.

All in all, Pep Guardiola’s side could play more than seven games in the month of February should they get past Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round on January 26.