Vincent Kompany has warned Kevin de Bruyne he will have to swap positions with Manchester City's other flair players, rather than being granted his preferred role as a No. 10 in all situations.
The midfielder became City's record signing when he completed his £54 million move from Wolfsburg in August.
Even though Raheem Sterling and David Silva were injured, De Bruyne's City debut only came as a substitute in Saturday's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
And captain Kompany said the wealth of attacking options available to manager Manuel Pellegrini means his fellow Belgian will have to alternate with them.
"We have so many players who can play centrally behind the striker," Kompany said. "[Samir] Nasri is a great player, Silva is a great player, Sterling, [Jesus] Navas.
"I think we have about five players in that position all equally strong, and then always it will be a little change. You will be left once, at right, behind the striker, I think that's normal at this level."
Kompany felt that former Chelsea player De Bruyne gave glimpses of his ability, but was particularly impressed with his work ethic.
"Kevin has a few chances to show his talents," Kompany added. "His pass to Navas was great. But I think it is most important is that we have a lot of players with quality.
"For us it was important that he showed that he was willing to work hard for the team and that is what we need. Players with talent who also work hard and Kevin has it all."
Kompany is convinced City will help De Bruyne settle quickly, explaining: "It was good for us again to strengthen the squad. And just like in the game today we also saw in training that he is a class player. But we remain very calm.
"We have many players coming to City over the years. We now know perfectly how to integrate them."
City now have an 11-point lead over champions Chelsea but Kompany is ignoring Jose Mourinho's team to focus on his own.
"We do not look at Chelsea," he said. "We look at ourselves and we do our job well now."