Paul Scholes has conceded that Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne is probably the best midfielder in the world.
It may well have been a hard pill to swallow for the Manchester United legend, who witnessed his former club ripped to shreds by the brilliant Belgian as City dominated Sunday's Manchester derby with a 4-1 win. It was De Bruyne who opened the scoring with a fine finish after just four minutes and he scored again to restore City's lead after Jadon Sancho had equalised.
The second half got even worse for United and De Bruyne was once again devastating as he set up Riyad Mahrez to volley home the third. The Algerian would also double his own tally late on to rub salt into their neighbour's wounds.
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Scholes was on punditry duty for the match with Premier League Productions and couldn't help but hail the excellence of De Bruyne. He said: "He's the best midfielder in the Premier League, probably the best in the world.
"I can't think of anybody else who touches him. He does everything. It's alright when these footballers are great passers and keep possession well, but this lad scores goals, he makes goals, he defends, his passes are brilliant.
"He's got absolutely everything you want in a top-class midfielder and it's difficult to stop them because you've got three or four of them. You think of Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden. They've got a great team and they come from everywhere.
"They'll score goals. Every time he gets the ball, he is thinking about a goal. He's thinking about scoring or assisting a goal and that's a great attitude to have."
Former City man Yaya Toure was also full of praise for De Bruyne. He added: "He's a fantastic player, he makes the difference, He scored two goals, but especially the assists for the Riyad Mahrez goal, the precision. It's spot on. The pass from Kevin was delicious."
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