Pep Guardiola and Manchester City need to do whatever it takes to renew Kevin de Bruyne’s contract, their form depends on it.

There are of course glaring reasons why the midfielder’s contract talks have stalled. Aged 33, his fitness has suffered in seasons of late, a catalogue of issues this season restricting him to just 15 Premier League appearances this season, with just six full 90s for City in all competitions.

His current deal represents a large portion of City’s budget as they look to renew their wider squad, as evidenced in this January transfer window.

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However, the midfielder has proved to be worth his weight in gold in each of his nine seasons in Manchester. With each injury lay-off comes the question whether his form can recover, and with each return he has silenced answered those questions more comprehensively than the time before.

City have avoided defeat in the four games since his 90 minutes against Leicester at the end of December, with the maestro providing four of the assists for City’s 14 goals in those games.

It was his first full match in the league since the 2-1 win against Brentford on September 14, the game that preceded his groin injury in the Champions League vs Inter Milan.

It’s no coincidence that his injury and consequent absence coincided with City’s drastic drop in form, with Guardiola’s side losing nine games before he fully returned against Leicester.

City’s form, despite the abundance of talent elsewhere, depends on De Bruyne, primarily because he is still nothing short of world class. His statistics, per 90, are league leading in terms of assists, pass success, shots on goal, and chances created.

This is not to mention that De Bruyne himself is keen to stay, telling reporters he “wanted to get better” before negotiations commenced. Clearly, he has, as reflected in his current form versus the slight dip he experienced whilst playing through niggles in December.

If, however, as the last couple of seasons have suggested, De Bruyne’s injury problems persist in the future, he is still worth having for the spikes in form he provides for the whole team. His presence in the squad buys time for Guardiola to carefully consider a succession plan, be it a signing or incremental introduction of James McAtee or Claudio Echeverri.

McAtee and Echeverri are crucial aspects to De Bruyne’s renewal. At present, the alternatives are not viable, especially for the big games, and need to be given time, and strong competition to succeed as so many others have in Guardiola’s tenure.

The simple answer to whether City throw the bank at a consistently world class performer is yes, and financial and fitness issues are clearly negated by De Bruyne’s long term importance to the club, even if his new contract is a short one.