De Bruyne one of Manchester City’s greatest players, declares Guardiola

Kevin De Bruyne said he had been inspired by the recent performances of his Manchester City teammate Phil Foden. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

After Kevin De Bruyne’s double in the 4-2 win at Crystal Palace took the Belgian to 100 Manchester City goals and maintained his club’s chase to retain the Premier League title, Pep Guardiola garlanded his star man with praise.

“The numbers, presence, consistency have been amazing,” said the manager of De Bruyne, who scored City’s spectacular equaliser in his 250th Premier League game for the club to cancel out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early counterattacking opener before later adding their fourth. “He is one of the best players in the history of Man City. The goals, assists, the lot. What can I say? The first goal is unbelievable and so is the assist for Erling [Haaland].”