Pundit says £54m Man City ace is one of the greatest players in his position in PL history

Pundit says £54m Man City ace is one of the greatest players in his position in PL history

Nedum Onuoha has claimed that Kevin De Bruyne is up there with some of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history.

 

 

Jamie Carragher is in a similar camp to his fellow pundit, recently hailing Kevin De Bruyne as one of the best players to have ever graced English football.

 

However, Robbie Savage believes that Paul Scholes was a superior midfielder to the £54 million (The Telegraph) man, as he also feels the latter plays in an inferior era of the Premier League, despite being a world-class player.

 

Nedum Onuoha says Kevin De Bruyne is one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history

Such is the nature of the discourse of greatness around any sport that it is rare that a player is widely viewed as the best to have ever graced a particular league in general or in his position.

 

 

While Nedum Onuoha did not crown Kevin De Bruyne as the Premier League’s greatest-ever midfielder, he believes is up there with some of the very best without question.

 

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“[Kevin De Bruyne] is part of the conversation, which means a lot because there’s a sense of nostalgia when we talk about [Paul] Scholes, [Patrick] Vieira, [Roy] Keane, [Steven] Gerrard, [Frank] Lampard”, he said in an interview with Sports Mole.

 

“These are guys that you would think would never be moved from that position and when Kevin came back to England to play for City, people were saying the price was too high, he’s no good.”

 

“Eight years on, people say City are definitely going to win the league now because he’s back and that weight with your name suggests that you are one of the best. He’s got it from a stats perspective, he’s got it from a visual perspective and he’s got it from a records perspective in terms of league titles.”

 

 

Nedum Onuoha believes Manchester City talisman Kevin De Bruyne could also be helped in these debates by the fact that he is a currently active player, as opposed to some of the other legendary retired midfielders who dominated England.

 

“Recency bias would obviously give him a real strong advantage but just the mere fact that he can be put in the same conversation as some of the all-time greats of the Premier League, which some people hold so dearly, that says it all.”

 

“If Cesc [Fabregas] has got the second-most assists in the Premier League, Cesc should be in there as well. I think all of those guys named have played in different systems but I think for the way football has changed across the years, Kevin can fit into a midfield that’s played the way it’s played today.”

 

 

According to Nedum Onuoha, a hypothetical all-time Premier League XI would need to find a way to slot Kevin De Bruyne in the side.

 

“If you want to go back and say my all-time Premier League team features a 4-4-2, all of a sudden, you don’t see space for him but because he’s so good, you’d probably change your mind and call it a 4-3-3 or have [a formation with] a [number] 10 playing in there and the moment you do that, he’s the number one candidate to be in that space creating chances for the team.”

 

Another Champions League triumph may cement Kevin De Bruyne as the greatest

As divisive as such debates tend to be, with Nedum Onuoha also yet to crown Kevin De Bruyne as the absolute greatest midfielder in Premier League history, if he wins another Champions League title, he may cement his legacy as the undisputed best in the masses’ eyes.

 

Europe’s elite competition is football’s most prestigious trophy after the World Cup and notably, only Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Wes Brown have won two such titles while playing in England.

 

Out of these players, only Paul Scholes was an out-and-out midfielder.

 

If Kevin De Bruyne adds another Champions League medal to his trophy cabinet while being a Premier League player and having perhaps been a more central figure during his team’s successes than the Englishman was, his legacy as the division’s best-ever midfielder may be sealed for good.