LONDON: Former Liverpool player Jamie Redknapp has hailed Manchester City’s midfielder Kevin De Bruyne as world’s best midfielder.
Redknapp compared De Bruyne’s skills with past Premier League legends like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane. Considering the overall attributes of a midfielder, Redknapp believes that the Belgian’s football IQ is unmatched.
“It’s tough, I’m going to be talking about family because there’s never going to be a better goalscoring Premier League midfielder than Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard was Roy of the Rovers, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, all brilliant players,” Redknapp said while talking to Sky Sports.
“But I just feel with all his attributes, I’ve never seen anyone pass the ball so beautifully. His football IQ, the way he sees gaps and threads through passes with such pinpoint accuracy, I haven’t seen it before. The goals he scores, he’s a beautiful striker of the ball; for me, he’s the greatest. Right now, he’s the best midfield player in the world.”
De Bruyne has a similar play style to Manchester United legend Paul Scholes. Both of them lacked pace but their vision and ability to read the game are something young players could learn from.
“A lot of people talk about Paul Scholes, and they’ve got a very similar way they see the game – he wasn’t blessed with blistering pace, he wasn’t the most mobile. But his brain was just so good, and when you had to play against him he’d challenge you in so many different ways,” Redknapp added.
“Kevin’s football brain and IQ make him No 1 for me, and hopefully we can find a little bit more about what makes him tick because every young footballer should watch him and the way he plays in midfield.” (ANI)