The king has returned.
Kevin De Bruyne made a fashionably late entrance to Euro 2020 on Thursday night as he entered Belgium’s clash with Denmark at the halfway stage with his team 1-0 down.
Before Simon Kjaer and friends knew what happened, the strawberry-blonde superstar had set one goal up and scored another to change the picture entirely – and put Dream Team Euros gaffers on alert.
Yussuf Poulsen’s early strike had given the Danes a deserved lead as they swarmed Roberto Martinez’s side in the first half.
However, the hosts were made to pay for not capitalising on their dominance further as Man City’s playmaker-in-chief changed the game with an inspired second-half performance.
In typical De Bruyne fashion he provided an assist in the form of an unmissable tap-in for Thorgan Hazard after some good work from Romelu Lukaku.
15 minutes later his left-footed low drive beat Kasper Schmeichel to put the world’s top-ranked side in the ascendancy, which they maintained until the final whistle.
Naturally, De Bruyne’s game-changing contribution earned him the Star Man award, meaning he bagged 15 points when all was said and done.
The 29-year-old is the third-best midfielder in Dream Team Euros at the time of writing despite having only played a total of 45 minutes.
Top midfielder Manuel Locatelli has played 160 minutes for his 21 points.
Before the tournament started, we warned you that De Bruyne was likely to miss Belgium’s opening game against Russia as he recovered from minor surgery on his fractured facial bones.
We suggested waiting until he was available for selection before transferring him into your XI – so what are you waiting for?
The PFA Player of the Year has entered Euro 2020 with a considerable flourish and is now arguably a must-have asset for any self-respecting Dream Team Euros gaffer.
He doesn’t come cheap at £6.0m – the joint-most expensive player in his position alongside Bruno Fernandes – but his Star Man display against Denmark suggests he’s worth whatever reshuffle it takes to get him in.
Having sat out the first three halves of Belgium’s Euro 2020 campaign, there’s seemingly no reason for Martinez to leave out his vice-captain when the Red Devils take on Finland on Monday.
With all due respect to Teemu Pukki and co, De Bruyne could run riot in that fixture.