Manuel Pellegrini claims Manchester City new boy Kevin De Bruyne's fee will be forgotten

Manuel Pellegrini believes Kevin de Bruyne has improved a lot since he last played in England

MANUEL PELLEGRINI says no one will question Kevin De Bruyne's club record price tag by the end of the season.

 

With David Silva ruled out by an ankle injury, De Bruyne is set for his Manchester City debut in their top-of-the-table clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park today.

The wisdom of City's decision to pay £54million for the Belgium international, 24, has been questioned but Pellegrini insists he will more than justify the fee over the course of the six-year contract, as will the club's other big summer signing, £49m capture Raheem Sterling.

"Everyone will talk about De Bruyne's price at the beginning of the season but I'm sure at the end of the season no one will remember how much we paid for him," said Pellegrini.

 

"It's part of the game for the player to demonstrate why we brought him here. has already demonstrated in his first four game why we brought him here and I'm sure Kevin will do the same.

"He [De Bruyne] is still young and can improve a lot. He has improved a lot since he was in the Premier League before [with Chelsea] - his form with Wolfsburg last season showed that.

"And I always say when good players arrive in a good team with very good players like David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, to name a few, they will continue improving."

 

Silva, who got a kick on the ankle playing for Spain in midweek, is expected to be fit for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Juventus. But Fabian Delph faces six weeks out after tearing his hamstring in the first few seconds of England's game against Switzerland.

And Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew claims City are a better side now than they have ever been.

"They are more dangerous now than when they were champions," he said. "Pelligrini has bought well and they will be favourites to beat us and rightly so. But we are better now than when we took three points off them last season at Selhurst.

"Our work ethic and technical ability make us difficult opposition. They won't kill us, we will be OK because we have great confidence and belief in the side after beating Chelsea."