Such is the depth and variety of midfield options at Manchester City that there are always likely to be question marks over the form and fortunes of the individuals involved.
Last summer, Bernardo Silva's place in the squad appeared uncertain as he mulled over the prospect of finding pastures new and Jack Grealish arrived for £100million.
Bernardo has now started 22 Premier League games in succession and is arguably more important to the City cause than he was during his previous high watermark of 2018/19.
Even in what felt like an underwhelming personal outing in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Southampton, the Portugal playmaker’s five key passes to create chances for team-mates were more than anyone else in Pep Guardiola’s XI.
There were some eyebrows raised among the City faithful over Ilkay Gundogan not being called from the bench. The Germany international’s effortless control of the tempo certainly felt like something the visitors missed during a breathless opening half-hour.
Gundogan’s prolific goalscoring run last season made him effectively as undroppable as Bernardo is now, but that status is never permanent under Guardiola.
Just ask Kevin De Bruyne.
Gundogan’s emergence as both a goal threat and the most obvious replacement for David Silva’s lightness of touch and Bernardo’s relentless form were both factors in De Bruyne finding himself in and out of the side as he strained for form and fitness earlier this season.
However, the Belgian maestro is beginning to look like one of the untouchables again. His showing at St Mary’s will obviously not live as long in the memory as his spectacular downing of Chelsea last weekend, but he impressively answered a recent challenge laid down by his manager.
“Sometimes he struggles a little bit when the team sits tight like Wolves, but we need him, we have known each other for a long time and what he has done for me is everything,” Guardiola said, referencing an attritional 1-0 win over Bruno Lage’s side where De Bruyne was only deployed as a 74th-minute substitute.
The comments came after the playmaker scored twice in a 7-0 ransacking of a comically wide-open Leeds United, with the City boss praising De Bruyne’s ruthlessness in transitions.
That quality was again evident with his decisive goal against Chelsea and Southampton’s willingness to press high meant similar opportunities might have been on the agenda.
But, as City recovered from a shoddy opening, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were pushed back into a deep defensive shape. A bit like Wolves, as it happens.
This was not the end of De Bruyne’s effectiveness, however. From open play, he persistently probed and asked questions. He created three chances for his colleagues and fired off more shots (four) than any other City player.
On another day, he’d have been in the familiar position of hero, as one strike clattered the post and another skidded just wide as a helpless Fraser Forster was left unsighted.
De Bruyne also played as if slightly affronted by Guardiola’s pre-match claim that Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse was the best free-kick taker in the world. His dead-ball deliveries were superb, with one leading directly to Aymeric Laporte’s equaliser.
That was De Bruyne’s 80th assist in the Premier League, drawing him level with a certain David Beckham - only KDB got there in 68 fewer matches.
"Absolutely not,” Guardiola smirked afterwards when asked if he now needed to put De Bruyne ahead of Ward-Prowse in his rankings. “He is the second one!"
All good fun and just another bit of gentle needling for a player who looks determined to prove he is number one all over again at the business end of the season.
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