De Bruyne excited by Silva link-up

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has spoken of his excitement at linking up with David Silva after the Spain international made his return from injury on Saturday.

The pair have played alongside each other just three times since the Belgian moved to the Etihad in a £54 million deal in the summer as a result of Silva's absence.

However, the former Valencia man came off the bench in the second half of the 3-1 win over Southampton, which saw De Bruyne score once and set up the other two goals.

But despite both players operating in similar positions, the 24-year-old is confident they can develop a fruitful understanding.

He said: "We haven't played that much together, and that’s been really difficult for both of us, but he’s such a great player that it’s easy to play together with him.

“Everybody has his own style, and I think we play almost at the same position, but we’re very different players, so it’s better to have different players who play together than to have all the same.

“I’m more direct than him, he can keep the ball a little bit more than me, so with the two together that’s an advantage and we can switch different things."