He may have narrowly missed out on the PFA Player of the Year award, but Kevin de Bruyne has been compared to two of the greatest midfielders in the Premier League by Gary Neville.
The Belgian was widely tipped to win the prestigious award after some scintillating performances for Manchester City this season, scoring 12 goals and providing an incredible 20 assists so far this season.
Now, former Manchester United captain and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has compared the 26-year-old to his former teammates, and Man Utd legends David Beckham and Paul Scholes.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, he said: “Jamie Redknapp compared him with Paul Scholes, but I actually think he is a hybrid between Scholes and David Beckham.
“He can cross and pass in a whipped way like Beckham, but he can also strike and drift passes like Scholes. He has that blend of both in terms of how he plays. He’s equally important to this team now as David Silva, and that’s saying something because Silva is a sensational player.
“Jamie Redknapp said Xavi and Andres Iniesta were the best two he’d seen in those forward midfield positions, and you’d have to agree with that, they were the best I’d ever seen, the Barcelona team under Pep Guardiola.
“But Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are comparable, and that’s saying something, because these are really top players. They don’t waste the ball, they have the intelligence, understanding, it’s really, really high level.
“One of the big moments of the season was De Bruyne’s goal at Chelsea, one of the moments that made me think this is a different type of team this season.
“[The goal against Swansea] was a brilliant, brilliant strike. He has the ability to display different techniques, different types of passes, drifting a pass, bending a pass, whip a cross, and then to strike a ball so true. It can only be through repetition, hours and hours of practice.
“I mentioned on MNF how Raheem Sterling can improve the accuracy of his strike, and he’s got someone there who he can go out on the training pitch with every day and practice with, to try and get near to that level, because that is the highest standard, it really is.”
