. @Drake needed an assist. pic.twitter.com/xc8B3sewyS

— Kevin De Bruyne (@KevinDeBruyne) November 17, 2023

They are A.Graham (Drake), A.Mamam (New York Producer known as The Alchemist) and K. De Bruyne.

The mystery over whether Kevin De Bruyne was deepened after the footballer was credited as a writer by music website Genius.

De Bruyne has been ruled out of football action since August with a hamstring injury that required surgery.

But it looked as though he had been putting his time away from the field to good use by entering the studio alongside Drake.

The song itself has no reference to football within it and mostly focuses on Drake’s life and rap beefs.

In the track, Drake appears to re-open a long running feud with fellow American rapper Pusha T.

Fans on X, formerly known as Twitter were quick to joke about De Bruyne’s off-field contribution.

One account wrote: “Even when he’s not playing he still finds a way to assist someone.”

Another fan wrote: “A wonderful assist from KDB but this time to DRAKE.”

A third wrote: “He’s born to assist.”

De Bruyne has now confirmed that the artist credited on the song is NOT him after tweeting: “@Drake needed an assist.”

He then added in a follow up tweet: “All jokes aside, it’s not me! Huge fan though!”

The artist featured is in fact Koen De Bruyne, a Belgian pianist who lived from 1946 until 1977.

Manchester City are hoping that De Bruyne can return to fitness before the new year with Pep Guardiola offering an update regarding his fitness this week.

Guardiola said: “I spoke with him and he said he feels really good.

“He’s not training with us yet and I don’t know when he will. I would say he’s in the last phase before he trains with us again