Kevin De Bruyne recently ranked Premier League defenders and midfielders, and his responses are likely to have sparked some controversy.
The Belgian midfielder, facing an extended period out of action due to a significant hamstring injury that required surgery, participated in a segment on Sky Sports.
In this segment, he ranked his preferred Premier League title victories and provided his opinions on the hairstyles of fellow teammates Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland, and Phil Foden.
But more notably, he was asked to give his honest thoughts on centre-backs, fellow creative midfielders in the Premier League, midfield legends and the stadiums with the best atmospheres.
De Bruyne was given three subjects for each category and had to order them. And when it came to central defenders, he did it without any hesitation when he was handed images of Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Silva and Lisandro Martinez.
Explaining his decision to give pal Van Dijk the nod, he said: “He has everything. Obviously I know him well but he’s got right foot, left foot, height, speed, he’s a leader.
“Thiago, also, is amazing but I think Virgil’s just got that little bit more.”
In terms of legends, De Bruyne opted to put Zinedine Zidane ahead of both Luka Modric and Andres Iniesta, while St James’ Park was the choice for best atmosphere ahead of Anfield and the Emirates Stadium.
De Bruyne, arguably the best playmaker in the world, was also asked to separate three of the league’s chief creators in Martin Odegaard, Bruno Fernandes and James Maddison.
Manchester United captain Fernandes, described as a “creative machine”, was placed in the No.1 spot even though De Bruyne rates Odegaard highly.
On Maddison, De Bruyne said he needs to “see more of him in a big team” following on from his move to Spurs from Leicester City in the summer.