Kevin De Bruyne: Haaland, Guardiola Joy, Doom for Premier League Rivals as Man City Ace Returns

• Kevin De Bruyne has upped the tempo as he nears a quick return to action
• The Belgian playmaker was spotted training with his team in Saudi Arabia
• Sports Brief looks at how his return could impact Man City's title challenge

Images and videos of Kevin De Bruyne returning to team training surfaced online on December 18 before Manchester City and the player himself confirmed the news.

De Bruyne has been out with a hamstring issue since August and the sight of him taking part in light training as his club prepares to compete in its first FIFA Club World Cup was welcome.

He aggravated the same hamstring issue he had in the UEFA Champions League final and after three months away from the limelight, the Belgian is back. And if his recent words are anything to go by, he is going for the jugular.

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"I want to be the best. It just doesn’t stop. I want to be in the best team. I want to be the best player in the world. I still have the motivation daily," he told Manchester Evening News.

Now, getting back to team training and being included in Pep Guardiola's match-day squad are two different things. It might take a couple more days to have him ready for action, but your guess is as good as mine; it won't be long.

Zuhum Omar, host of the One Two TV podcast, admits De Bruyne is the best Premier League midfielder ever.

"Man City look like they lack rhythm and more experience in midfield. If KDB, their captain, is in there, they won't be throwing away 2-0 leads like they did recently. The only problem they have is the lack of another experienced midfielder like [Ilkay] Gundogan or David Silva back in the days to complement his efforts."

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How Manr City performed without De Bruyne

That Man City have only won once in their last six Premier League games is shocking given the class Guardiola's squad oozes - De Bruyne's absence notwithstanding. What's more shocking, however, is that despite the uncharacteristic shaky run of form, Manchester City are only five points behind league leaders Arsenal.

In the Belgian's absence, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, and Bernardo Silva have all had to step up, with the trio having a combined 13 Premier League assists between them. New signing, Jeremy Doku has five assists, though four of them came in a single game.

De Bruyne's favourite partner on the pitch, Erling Haaland, has silenced the 'one-season-wonder' naysayers with 14 goals so far - no one else has more. The Norwegian has managed to keep it going despite missing his partner-in-crime. Of the 52 goals he scored last season, De Bruyne assisted 13 of them, according to CNN stats.

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This only reiterates that despite Guardiola missing arguably the best player in the division for the last couple of seasons, he has managed to do 'just fine.' The treble winners breezed past their Champions League group; for their reward, they will play Copenhagen in the round of 16.

Manchester City's failures without De Bruyne

Guardiola's only Achilles Heel this season without his Belgian maestro, has been how to beat the proverbial Big Six teams. He only beat Manchester United but lost to Arsenal before collecting successive draws against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur.

De Bruyne has a combined 49 goal involvements (in all competitions) against all those teams, according to Transfermarkt's stats.

What Arsenal can do to better Manchester City

This is why Liverpool and Arsenal and possibly Aston Villa will be wary of the threat Man City possess once De Bruyne is back and firing from all cylinders. A five-point lead is nothing compared to the gap they had to bridge last season to beat the Gunners to the title.

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But Zuhum, a fervent Arsenal fan, is not so worried. For starters, he doesn't see the 32-year-old hitting the same heights again due to his age and the reoccurrence of the same hamstring problem.

Zuhum, however, wants to see his side bolster the current squad to prevent a repeat of what happened last season.

"We need to ensure that every part of the squad can be improved. We need a different striker from the profiles of Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus even if it means selling the former. Our defence is also threadbare at the moment with Timber and Tomiyasu out. I think another defender and a target man as a striker will help us compete on two fronts."

As Manchester City go to Denmark, Arsenal will head to Portugal to face Porto in the Champions League round of 16. But that's for the new year - Mikel Arteta's side face an acid test this weekend away to Liverpool.