Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has named his greatest player of all time who is not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. The 22-year-old picked his fellow teammate Kevin de Bruyne over the Argentine legend and Portuguese icon. Foden has now been sharing the dressing room with De Bruyne for five years and has evidently enjoyed playing alongside the Belgian.
The England international branded De Bruyne as an “unbelievable player” while recently speaking on FourFourTwo. Foden and De Bruyne have together carried the luggage of the creative work at City for years now, helping the club to four Premier League titles, as many EFL Cups and an FA Cup. While many may directly pick between Messi and Ronaldo when quizzed about the GOAT, Foden apparently broke the tradition and chose hi teammate over them.
Best player I’ve ever seen- Phil Foden heaps praise on De Bruyne
Phil Foden may have raised the eyebrows of many by naming De Bruyne as the greatest player, but the Belgian has evidently made his argument for the case. De Bruyne joined Man City back in 2015 from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for a then club record fee of £54 million. Many labelled City’s investment in the playmaker as a grave mistake since De Bruyne had failed to make a mark with Chelsea in the Premier League.
However, he did prove his mettle in Germany racking up 47 assists and 30 goals in just 107 games across stints with Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen. His exploits caught the eye of City who were rebuilding at that time and splashed the club record fee to acquire a then 24-year-old Kevin de Bruyne.
A global ambassador for TCL, Phil Foden was at FourFourTwo when he talked about the greatest player he has ever seen. The attacker also reserved some special praise for City legend David Silva, who left the club in 2020 and returned to Spain with Real Sociedad. Foden said:
“Wow, that’s so difficult [to pick the greatest]. When I was watching football and growing up I loved David Silva but seeing Kevin De Bruyne every day in training, the things he does! Unbelievable player; probably the best player I’ve ever, ever played with.
“Obviously, I was very young when I got scouted [by Manchester City] and ever since I trained, I just fell in love with the club. I loved watching David Silva who, became my idol and I’ve been here ever since. I think just watching football on the TV, seeing big players play football and I just wanted to be like them. I used to go to the park to play every day wishing I could be one of them one day.”
De Bruyne tallied 14 assist and 19 goals in 45 games last season as he helped City to retain the Premier League title. He has resumed his duties this season as well, collecting 5 assists and a goal in 7 games so far. City have brought in Erling Haaland this summer, who has already stacked in 12 goals in 7 games as they will fiercely contest to win the coveted Champions League trophy.