When Phil Foden scored a hat-trick in Wednesday's 4-1 win over Aston Villa from 25 yards, it felt like the world was watching the changes in the Manchester City defender.
Kevin De Bruyne has missed the majority of the season through injury and remains an unused substitute against Villa. He watched from the bench as a man nine years younger than him grabbed his neck to win the game and kept the championship on the charge.
Although the midfielder has shown himself to be as hot as his trademark redhead in recent years and you really should let him talk, it's hard to imagine him personally embracing this performance from Foden, as Michael Jordan did. De Bruyne said on Saturday that Foden had indeed kept him "on his toes". But based on the Belgian's impressive 4-2 away win at Crystal Palace, you'd think the heroics of his juniors did upset him.
The 32-year-old is the best player on the pitch at Selhurst Park. Eagles head coach Oliver Glasner joked before the game that he might as well go sightseeing in London if he didn't think his team had a chance. In hindsight, he should probably have gone for a walk in the West End.
Palace took the lead early through Jean-Philippe Mateta, but that only woke up a sleeping Manchester City. De Bruyne unleashed a ferocious right-footed swing to level the visitors from inside the 18-yard box and pick out the top corner of the net for Dean Henderson. He will provide an assist midway through the second half for the much-appreciated Erling Haaland before adding a goal to add the icing on the cake.
While City's other starters included 19-year-old Rico Lewis and 20-year-old Oscar Bob, they seemed to be getting younger, and it was their old minds that kept the firm and dragged them into the three points in the loudest atmosphere of the Premier League.
Speaking to TNT Sport after the game, head coach Pep Guardiola said: "We made mistakes in the first half but we came back and Kevin De Bruyne won the game with his actions, his assists, his goals and everything. We won the race with him." 'I didn't know he liked goals to assists, but I kept urging him to say we had to win games. There is no doubt that he has won a lot of races for us. It's been really good for him. ”
The question for City is how to address De Bruyne's uncertain future. Knowing that he will receive a huge offer from the Saudi Pro League this summer, he is one of the two priority transfer targets in the region alongside Liverpool's Mohammed Salah, while his Manchester City contract expires in 2025.
Manchester City may decide that it is in their best interest to sell an elderly star while they are still aware. They were very ruthless towards many of De Bruyne's ex-exes and former teammates. He may not be any different.
However, De Bruin has a different cultural significance. When it came to the recent ranking of the best Premier League players of all time, he was in fifth place. No other Manchester City regular (Frank Frank doesn't count) finished in the top 15. De Bruyne didn't score to win the club's first title in a generation and he wasn't one of the first wave of adorable superstars at the Etihad Stadium, but there is no doubt that he was the face of Manchester City in the Premier League era and perhaps their greatest player of all time.
This is an argument that De Bruyne should present to the club in any contract negotiations, and he has earned the right to demand and be firm in any new contract negotiations. He may just be a player to be eliminated on the most important occasions of the future due to his declining fitness, but he is just as tall and important as any other figure at the club.