Kevin De Bruyne is having a fantastic start to the season with Manchester City, scoring one goal with eight assists from 10 games across the board, and Paul Merson believes he’s the best player in the world.
The former Arsenal midfielder and football pundit wrote a column for Sporkskeeda where he named his top-five best midfielders in the Premier League and had De Bruyne at No.1.
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Merson wrote: ‘At the moment, I believe Kevin De Bruyne is the best player in world football, so he undoubtedly tops my list. His vision is on a different level and he’s so, so intelligent.
‘You can look at the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar – who have all been fantastic for PSG this season – but De Bruyne is the all-round package and was an easy pick at #1.’
No player has more assists in the Premier League than De Bruyne (6), no player has created more chances (25) and only three players have whipped in more accurate crosses (2.3 per game), so the Belgian international is certainly the best playmaker in England.
And in Europe’s top-five leagues, only Messi (7) and Neymar (7) have more assists but no player has made more chances than De Bruyne, so Merson isn’t wrong in his praise. The 31-year-old can be compared to the best players in world football with how well he’s started the season.
The Premier League assist record is 20, which De Bruyne matched in 2019/20. If he could maintain his 0.86 assists per game ratio, he’ll end the season on 32.
In other news, Julian Alvarez gives opinion on Pep Guardiola squad rotation policy
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