Football News

“He is one of the best leaders in the world” – De Bruyne puts together his “perfect player”

By William Eldridge

Published: 18:02, 8 April 2019

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has put together his “perfect player” which includes vital footballing ingredients from some of the games most talented individuals. 

The City star has been in and out of the starting XI this season due to injury but is hoping he can now make an impact as Pep Guardiola’s squad close in on a potentially historic quadruple.

City’s historic season? Five things you need to know…

  1. Manchester City are currently second in the Premier League, one point behind Liverpool but with a game in hand.
  2. City have already won silverware this season, beating Chelsea in both the FA Community Shield and the League Cup final in February.
  3. They beat Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 on Saturday to secure their place in the FA Cup final in May.
  4. De Bruyne and company also face Tottenham Hotspur across two legs in the Champions League quarter-finals.
  5. Ahead of this important run-in, De Bruyne has discussed which elements from fellow professionals would make up the perfect footballer.

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The talented Belgian international has been asked to put together critical footballing traits to form a ‘perfect player’. Coming up with six different qualities needed to succeed in the game, De Bruyne picked some of the best players to form his star.

When asked which player has the best leadership skills, De Bruyne could look no further than Manchester City and Belgium teammate Vincent Kompany as his pick.

He said: “To choose leadership in somebody that I know I have to choose Vincent Kompany. I see what he does, on and off the pitch, for club and country. I think he is one of the best leaders in the world for the team.

Putting the player together 

City’s star man from last season continued putting together his ‘perfect player’ and picked Tottenham Hotspur’s talented Danish international Christian Eriksen as the man to provide the vision.

“I like a player like [Christian] Eriksen,” said De Bruyne.

“Very underrated in people’s minds. He creates a lot of chances for his teammates. I know him already from his time at Ajax.”

Although not Mr. Popular – especially in the red half of Merseyside – De Bruyne opted for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos as the man to bring the right mentality to his ‘player’.

“Mentality, I would say Sergio Ramos. He will just do anything to get the team fired up. Even taking a red card to win the game.”

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Although the Belgian picked Ramos’ mentality, he was far more supportive of his own mindset when picking out the best footballing brain, saying: “I would take my football brain to be fair! Pretty happy with it!”

Like most of the best players, speed and acceleration can be vital components to a brilliant footballer with De Bruyne once again choosing someone from the Manchester City ranks.

“I would take Leroy [Sane] just because of his elegance. He could be like a 100m runner and it wouldn’t cost him any effort.”

Lastly, there was no hiding De Bruyne’s admiration for Chelsea and France star N’Golo Kante, picking the defensive midfielder to provide the excellent work-rate.

“I would say N’Golo Kante. The things that he does he is incredible at. He’s a defensive hoover which is really important also.”