The Scout's panel of Fantasy Premier League experts discuss what to do with Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m), who returned 12 points with a goal and an assist during a 21-minute substitute appearance against Newcastle United on Saturday.
What the FPL experts say
Lee Bonfield (@FPLFamily)
Back with a bang! And with incredible fixtures to come for Manchester City, I'll be moving to bring in De Bruyne, especially as most FPL managers will have the money to do so, with Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) and Son Heung-min (£9.7m) away at international tournaments.
The big question is what to do when Salah and Son come back in a few weeks. But by then De Bruyne will likely have banked plenty of FPL points.
Advice: Buy now
Ben Crabtree (@FC_CrabDogg)
I'd separate buying De Bruyne from any decisions you may be making about Erling Haaland (£13.9m), and buy the Belgian asap. If KDB is on form when Haaland is back, you'll need both, and it won't make sense to sell KDB to get him.
Advice: Buy now
Nick Harris (@WGTA_Nick)
There is a strong case for bringing De Bruyne in this week after his most recent performance. Triple Man City is likely to be very common in our FPL teams with many managers also owning the likes of Phil Foden (£8.0m) and Julian Alvarez (£7.0m).
However, when Salah and Son return in a couple of Gameweeks and Haaland also returns there are going to be some tough decisions in terms of how we best budget.
Advice: Buy now
Pras (@Pras_FPL)
Despite the very strong temptation, the Newcastle match only confirmed to us that De Bruyne isn't ready to start matches (yet). When you factor in that Gameweeks 22 and 23 are tightly spaced, and so are the two fixtures in Double Gameweek 25, I'd rather wait a couple of Gameweeks before committing such a big part of my budget to him.
Advice: Don't buy yet
Mark McGettigan (@FPLGeneral)
Fixtures and minutes are the two main factors that come into play when I’m buying a player in FPL. Man City certainly have the fixtures, with the Double Gameweek on the horizon, but we can’t yet rely on De Bruyne for consistent minutes.
He showed us that he can return the points with limited minutes but I’ll be focusing my picks on the 90-minute men for now. My advice would be to keep the door open for him in Double Gameweek 25.
Advice: Don't buy yet
Az Phillips (@FPLBlackBox_Az)
I was shocked when I saw that De Bruyne's ownership is now at 14 per cent. Last week, 841,000 managers transferred in a player who said himself that he was only ready for a cameo against Newcastle. Well, what a cameo it was.
It's an absolute plum fixture against Burnley next, but he is still building fitness and this may mean he is restricted to another place on the bench.
Advice: Don't buy yet
Sam Bonfield (@FPLFamily)
De Bruyne was game-changing when he came on for the last 20 minutes against Newcastle in Gameweek 21. His 12 points have made him the highest-scoring player in the Gameweek so far. However, I am still wary.
At the end of the match De Bruyne himself was talking about how he can't yet play at that intensity for more than the substitute appearance we saw. Therefore, he is top of my watchlist but I am waiting to see how much time he gets in the FA Cup tie against Spurs on Friday 26 January before investing.
Advice: Don't buy yet
