Soccer-Fit-again De Bruyne back on track

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - The playmaking abilities of a fit-again Kevin De Bruyne, who has made a strong recovery from a knee injury, will be key to Belgium's hopes of success at the European Championship. De Bruyne, who will celebrate his 25th birthday during the tournament in France, has turned in a series of impressive performances for Manchester City since returning from injury at the start of April and, together with Eden Hazard, presents a dynamic attacking force for the Red Devils. A teenager when he made his international debut, De Bruyne is delivering on the potential first spotted at Racing Genk, where he was a regular in the team that won the championship in 2011. De Bruyne is approaching 40 caps, four of which came in the World Cup finals in Brazil two years ago. His five goals for Belgium in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, as they finished top of Group B, were equalled only by Hazard. In England his injury earlier this year led to him missing out on a medal as Manchester City won the League Cup but it has still been a satisfying season, if only for the way he proved Jose Mourinho wrong. His spell at Chelsea after signing from Genk in 2012 had been frustrating. He was immediately sent on loan to Werder Bremen for a season before incoming Chelsea manager Mourinho decided he was not part of his plans after just three appearances. De Bruyne returned to the Bundesliga at VfL Wolfsburg, where last year he was named German football's player of the year. Manchester City paid a reported 58 million pounds ($84.66 million) to take De Bruyne back to England where his quality has been quickly evident. "I'm expecting he will give us extra speed. He is a real weapon," said Belgium coach Marc Wilmots. ($1 = 0.6851 pounds) (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Neil Robinson)