The idea had crossed more than one blue mind before the match against Wolves, but most believers dismissed it as a heresy.

Stats story.

In the nine City of Manchester Toys Kevin De Bruyne Missed due to injury and then rotation, the Blues won nine – including easy sending offs from Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham.

In fact, their win rate without the Belgian world player this season was 88 percent – they won 15, drawn two and lost nothing. The win percentage drops to 74 percent when playing.

Nobody would seriously propose this as a long-term measure – De Bruyne remains the best player at Premier LeagueWhen measured over five years – but it will Pep Guardiola Consider letting it run away in the short term, to maintain that amazing momentum?

This means not choosing the best player for them in the Manchester derby who could seal the title, and for once, this is a possibility, if not a possibility.

De Bruyne is back in the starting line-up against the West Ham this weekend, and it was clear he needed time to tune that Rolls Royce engine, and to restart the quantum computer of the soccer brain.

Although it was his impressive left-foot pass that chose Robin Dias To create the opening goal, De Bruyne was well below his best.

In his recent absence due to a hamstring problem, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Phil Foden seemed to take turns filling those shoes that couldn’t be filled.

In fact, all of these players got better when De Bruyne wasn’t around, and City looked better.

But the idea that he would have to fight his way back to the team was not a start.

In addition to the fact that City’s schedule of two games a week means everyone gets at least one game per week, there is no doubt that De Bruyne is an elite player, even in this exceptional City team.

We’ve seen this before with De Bruyne, especially upon returning from an injury absence.

Rarely does it go straight back. But the answer is to give it minutes, not to neglect it and use it sparingly as it did with Sergio Aguero.

The gradual return to intensity of the match was evident from the start.

Cancelo’s no-look pass starts, causing her to sweep the Portuguese man, a sign that the strange awareness that is a feature of his game, such as a 3D mind map, is on.

He did it again moments later, and a rainbow curved pass almost freed the Pound from the ranks of the crowded wolves.

Next time it was a low punch pass, targeting the pound sterling as well – it also had quite a lot of weight, but you can almost feel like adjusting the accounts next time …

Although this great soccer mind may not be fully functional, De Bruyne’s normal position is like a quantum computer, he is able to assess the ideal speed, trajectory and impact to the point that he would be able to land football on Mars if given the opportunity. . .

But even when the gears are a little rusty, it keeps trying to make things happen.

But Guardiola is a perfectionist, so that you don’t have much leeway, even when you return from a long absence.

The first time Wolverhampton reached the City half, 20 minutes into the match, it was because De Bruyne gave the ball away, causing Guardiola to wave his arms in anger. That’s the point this City team has reached, making one mistake you stand out.

The Belgian has also been below goals this season, scoring only four times, when he averaged over 11 in previous seasons, trailing Gundogan, Foden and Bernardo in that regard.

Denied a fifth of the campaign with his adorable Fingertip from Roy Patricio, he threw himself the entire length to protect from a left-footed shot.

City has proven that they can still be the best team in the country, even without De Bruyne, but as he is quickly starting to emerge, they are better with him.