On this evidence who can argue with the Belgium ace after Pep Guardiola’s men took Liverpool to the cleaners.

Guardiola tried to sign the Arsenal star in a £70m deal.

The move collapsed on transfer deadline day to leave the Chilean superstar fuming.But De Bruyne reckons City don’t even need him.

“No one has really talked about it,” he said.

“If he had come it would have been a very good addition - but we are very happy with the guys who are here.

“Everybody who is playing here is very talented, they are big players, but you know in all the big clubs they are going to add more players if possible.

“But if it is not possible then we will just do it with the guys we’ve got.”

Liverpool outfit didn’t help themselves by having Sadio Mane sent-off before half time for a high boot in the face of home goalkeeper Ederson.

There was no intention from Mane to hurt Ederson, but by the letter of the law referee Jon Moss had little option but to show him a straight red card.

Yet the visitors never came close to limiting the damage against a rampant home side with a startling arsenal of attacking weapons.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring on 27 minutes with a clinical finish before Gabriel Jesus added two more either side of half time.

Just to emphasise how much firepower Guardiola has at his disposal, Leroy Sane climbed off the bench in the second half to help himself to a brace that included a spectacular effort in stoppage time.

Guardiola knows failure is not an option this season after failing to win a single piece of silverware in his first campaign with the billionaires.

More than £200m has been lavished on new stars this summer and the pressure on him to deliver is immense.

Manchester City have made an unbeaten start to the new campaign and De Bruyne admits there is a determination within the squad to make up for the last 12 moths.

He added: “Everyone wants to win - especially when you have a couple of years when you don’t win a lot.

“Maybe there’s more of an urgency to win something between the players, and I have a good feeling about this season.

“But you never know. We have started well, but we will see what happens.”

This was a sobering afternoon for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who suffered his worst defeat since taking charge.

It was also the Reds’ heaviest loss to City since 1937.

Klopp defended his decision to leave out fit-again Philipe Coutinho, but admitted his side had been taught a harsh lesson, having done the same to Arsenal in their last game.

He said: “Unfortunately I have had a few days like that as a manager, but not at Liverpool - thank god.

“Things like this happen. It’s really bad, and we have to take the blame for everything that we saw.

“A couple of weeks ago we got all the credit. This time we have to take the not so nice part, which is criticism. But we know about it.”

MANCHESTER CITY (3-5-2): Ederson 7 (Bravo 45, 7); Danilo 7, Stones 7, Otamendi 7 (Mangala 71); Walker 7, DE BRUYNE 9, Fernandinho 7, Silva 8, Mendy 7; Aguero 8, Jesus 8 (Sane 57, 8). Subs: Gundogan, Delph, B Silva, Foden.UP NEXT: Feyenoord (a), Champions League, Wednesday.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Mignolet 6; Alexander-Arnold 6, Matip 6, Klavan 6, Moreno 5; Can 6, Henderson 4, Wijnaldum 6 (Milner 58, 6); SALAH 7 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 46, 5), Firmino 6 (Solanke 66, 6), Mane 5. Subs: Karius, Lovren, Gomez, Srurridge.UP NEXT: Sevilla (h), Champions League, Wednesday.Referee: Jonathan Moss 6.

Your turn: How many goals did Raheem Sterling score in 129 appearances for Liverpool before his £49m move to City in 2015 - 13, 23 or 33?

STAR PLAYER - KEVIN DE BRUYNE - Midfield masterclass.STAR SHOCKER - JORDAN HENDERSON - Midfield mishap.MATCH RATING - 3