Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne scored a rapid hat-trick in the first half of his team’s clash with Wolves – and also paid tribute to his future team mate, Erling Haaland.
De Bruyne netted four goals in an eventual 5-1 victory to further improve what has been a very exciting week for Man City.
The club announced they will sign Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland in a £51 million deal this summer, and De Bruyne appeared to welcome the Norwegian with his celebration at Molineux.
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Watch: De Bruyne emulates Haaland
The Belgian not only imitated Haaland with his clinical finishing, but also with his celebration, as he performed a meditation pose after netting.
This celebration has previously been used by Haaland after scoring for Dortmund, and seemingly indicates De Bruyne cannot wait to link up with the forward in the Premier League next season.
The fastest hat-tricks in Premier League history
De Bruyne scored his third goal within 24 minutes on Wednesday, giving him the third-fastest hat-trick from the start of the match in the history of the Premier League.
The record belongs to Sadio Mane, who scored three within 16 minutes against Aston Villa in 2015, while Dwight Yorke sits second with a 22-minute hat-trick against Arsenal in February 2001.
All three goals came from the feet of De Bruyne, the same as, interestingly enough, every other Premier League goal he has ever scored.
In fact, De Bruyne has scored more goals than any other player in Premier League history where none of his tallies have been headers as his trio of goals put him on 57 for his career.
Guardiola on De Bruyne
“He has played the last two or three months, especially in the Premier League, outstanding, and in the Champions League as well,” Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports after the win. “He has been our key man in this part of the season.
“It is not just what he creates and the goals and everything. He helps us a lot. I am happy because Kevin is so generous and always thinking what’s the best for the team but this year is also the most prolific for him.
“Always we concede a goal when we don’t deserve to. In that moment we were in control. We conceded a goal but after we found a goal quickly and that helped us a lot.”
De Bruyne, meanwhile, told BBC Sport: “It was a great start from the team and myself. I thought we played a good game away so I’m very happy with the team.
“I try to understand the situation better. If my team makes the movements I try and find them. The connection with the team has been exceptional and that’s why I love playing with them.”
Wolves react to De Bruyne performance
Wolves first-team coach Carlos Cachada said: “When you have players like De Bruyne, who can always change the game, you can have a strategy but when it comes to players like this they can score four goals and finish the game. With that performance we can do nothing about it.”
De Bruyne’s season so far
De Bruyne has featured 31 times in all competitions this season, despite dealing with injury issues in recent years.
He’s scored 19 goals so far this campaign, surpassing the highest mark he’s scored for Manchester City, having scored 16 in 2015-16 and 2019-20.
