♦ Kevin De Bruyne returned to Manchester City for pre-season training this week
♦ The Belgian midfielder, 33, arrived at City’s Etihad Campus with a new hairstyle
♦ His top knot was not overly dissimilar to that of City team-mate Erling Haaland
Kevin De Bruyne returned to training with Manchester City on Tuesday disguised as Erling Haaland, kind of.
The Belgian playmaker – who had been granted extra time off after his involvement at Euro 2024 this summer – arrived at City’s Etihad Campus sporting a new hairstyle.
City documented De Bruyne’s return by posting a video of him walking from the car park to the main building.
In the video, a voice from out of shot is heard shouting ‘oooooo top knot’ at De Bruyne, who responds by saying: ‘I need to cut my hair’.
De Bruyne’s new look generated a lot of comments on social media, where fans could not help but notice the similarities with Haaland’s famous hairstyle.
Kevin De Bruyne pictured arriving at Man City’s Etihad Campus training ground on Tuesday
The 33-year-old Belgian midfielder was sporting a new hairstyle following his summer break
Dr Bruyne’s hair was tied in a top knot and his new look got a lot of fans talking on social media
Multiple fans thought that De Bruyne’s hairstyle was inspired by Erling Haaland (pictured)
One comment on Instagram read: ‘Erling Bruyne’. Another fan wrote: ‘Haaland effect is really effective’.
A different fan tweeted: ‘Handsome version of Halaand’.
This is not the first time that De Bruyne has seemingly copied one of his team-mate’s hairstyles.
Midway through the 2023-24 season, the former Chelsea ace was said to be rocking the Jack Grealish look upon his return from an injury absence.
Despite not playing a single minute of City’s pre-season, De Bruyne could be in contention to feature against Manchester United in the Community Shield on Saturday.
Haaland pictured rocking a much bigger top knot than De Bruyne in a recent friendly game
Last season, De Bruyne was said to have taken stylistic inspiration from Jack Grealish (right)
Saturday’s game will be a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final, which United won 2-1.
City will then begin the defence of their Premier League title with a trip to Chelsea eight days later.