“Beautiful… an amazing player.”
The was a statistic flying around on social media after Kevin De Bruyne had returned to the Manchester City team and had an instant impact.
The 32-year-old, who missed the start of City’s treble defence with an injury, returned against Newcastle United and contributed to a vital win with a late goal and assist. The statistic was comparing De Bruyne having two goal involvements in one sub appearance while Manchester united winger, Antony had 0 in 16.
On the latest Stick to Football episode, the panel were so enamoured with the City talisman that he featured in a glowing, four-minute discussion. Roy Keane commented:
“You could see the reaction from the other players, as well, at the end of the game, and after those goals. You could see from their celebrations – they are looking at him and going, ‘We are so glad’ -as brilliant as they are – ‘so glad you are back’. Beautiful.”
Ian Wright raved about De Bruyne’s assist for Oscar Bobb’s winner, against the Geordies, before Jamie Carragher insisted the Belgian would get in the Premier League’s All-Time XI.
When Jill Scott commented about his quality, and breadth, of passing, Keane cut in, “We’re very lucky that he’s in the league. Amazing player.”
Of course, this is not the first time Keane has raved about De Bruyne. During Euro 2020 [held in 2021], the former Manchester United captain compared him to an old midfield partner of his.
Keane compares Kevin De Bruyne to Man United legend
Roy Keane was working as pundit for ITV during Euro 2020, as Belgium reached the quarter finals with a 1-0 win over Portugal.
Keane spoke highly about Cristiano Ronaldo, during his half-time analysis, before focusing on the strengths and skills of Kevin De Bruyne. He commented:
“Even when he receives the ball, he is always in control. He always has a picture in his mind.
“It reminds me of Paul Scholes a little bit; sometimes, players get the ball and you think, ‘What am I going to do next?’
“They already have a plan. They are two or three moves ahead.”
De Bruyne certainly does have similar qualities to Scholes, who won 11 league titles and scored 155 goals with United. De Bruyne has 97 goals for City but is third on the all-time assist list, with 103. Scholes had 55 league assists in his career with United.
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