Sunday 20 December 2015 15:19, UK
Kevin De Bruyne has warned the rest of the Premier League that the best is yet to come from Manchester City this season.
City currently lie third in the table, three points behind surprise leaders Leicester City ahead of their match with Arsenal at the Emirates on Monday Night Football.
Manuel Pellegrini's side have already lost four games in this campaign, though, more than other team in the top five.
However, De Bruyne - who moved to the Etihad Stadium from Wolfsburg for a club-record fee of £54.5m in August - says City have yet to hit top gear.
"Sometimes it is not necessary [for City to perform at their peak], so it depends on how the game goes," De Bruyne said in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News HQ.
"If you are already winning 3-0 or 4-0, you can obviously put the brakes on a bit because afterwards you have a lot of games left so you can save a lot of energy.
"But also sometimes we were in difficult positions and then came back, so that showed fighting spirit, but we can play even better. I would say we are doing good because maybe we have not played at our best level yet."
I would say we are doing good because maybe we have not played at our best level yet.
Either way, De Bruyne is adamant City have their eyes firmly fixed on getting their hands back on the Premier League trophy this season.
"Obviously it is really important," he says. "It would be my first if we could win it this year. Last year I won the cup and in the summer the Super Cup, so I am fighting to win more titles and it is the best moment you can have as a player.
"So that is why I came over here, because I think with City you have more chances to win something than we already did with Wolfsburg."
Consistency, though, will be the key to winning a third Premier League title, according to the Belgium international.
"Leicester are doing really well at the moment, playing really good and hopefully for them they will continue this form," De Bruyne said.
"But it is going to be difficult as it is a hard Premier League. I think the other teams are also there and the distance between fifth and sixth [and the top] is not that big.
"So that is why it is important to have a run of a couple of games where you come out winning, so you can make a break and put pressure on the other ones."
While victory at Arsenal on Monday would boost City's title hopes - with their opponents currently a point ahead in second - it would matter little if the club then drop points over the busy Christmas period, according to De Bruyne.
"In the end, the game is important if you win it and then keep on winning," he said.
"If you win against Arsenal, then lose the other one it does not really matter. So I think the most important things is to get a couple of wins and then see what is happening with the rest."
De Bruyne heads into Monday's encounter at the very top of his game, with the 24-year-old having contributed nine goals and eight assists in 21 matches in all competitions for City this season.
However, the attacking midfielder will have to get the better of Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, who he played alongside at Chelsea between 2012-14, if City are to emerge victorious.
De Bruyne is not shocked that Cech opted to leave Stamford Bridge last summer, or that the Czech Republic international has been in such impressive form himself since moving to the Emirates.
"That he is still the same goalkeeper, I am not surprised," he says. "I saw him in training and he is one of the best in the world.
"To be honest I can perfectly understand why he went. He did not play last year and I did the same, so I think in the end everyone wants to play football and for him to stay also in London, where he was for so long, is a great transfer for him.
"A great goalkeeper can get you points, like a striker can score a lot of goals to give you points, which is the same as with a 'keeper. And I think he does that a lot for them and we have the same with Joe [Hart] and that is why he is recognised as one of the best."
Breach Cech's defences on Monday night, however, and De Bruyne and Co will have gone a long way towards leaving the capital with all three points…
