Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has claimed that the Premier League has changed amid their ongoing title race with Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta's side currently find themselves top of the pile after 27 games, sitting five points clear of second-placed City, who have won four of the last five league titles. Now, De Bruyne has spoken about the evolving nature of the English top flight, arguing that the so-called lower teams spending more is one of the reasons for the Citizens dropping off slightly - in turn making Arsenal's form even more impressive.
Speaking ahead of City's Champions League clash against RB Leipzig, the Belgian international said: "It's been fine this year, the league has changed a bit. The lower teams are able to spend more money and buy better players, all teams have so much quality.
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"The level of difficulty is getting tougher. We are second, in three competitions. In comparison with other years, I feel not different. There are some games we should have won, it depends."
The talented playmaker has struggled for form in recent weeks and found himself on the bench at the weekend as Pep Guardiola's men defeated Crystal Palace 1-0. That has led to former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur man Jamie Redknapp to claim that Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has now surpassed De Bruyne as the best midfielder in the Premier League.
"Right now he’s No. 1. There’s nobody [better]," Redknapp told Sky Sports, as quoted by the Mirror when speaking about Odegaard. "Normally we would say Kevin De Bruyne is the best midfield player, not just in the Premier League but the world, but something isn’t quite right.
"He isn’t playing as many games as he’d like. But Odegaard does this thing where – all great players possess it – it’s like time stands still when he has the ball.
"Most players [would rush the shot], especially midfield players as we’re not used to getting in those situations. But the calmness that he possesses, he’s scored four or five goals like that with that left foot.
"He’s the captain, he’s the leader. Yeah, for me he’s No. 1 [in the Premier League]. And he’s leading that team."
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