Arsene Wenger has broken down what makes Kevin De Bruyne different in comparison to his teammates at Manchester City.
The same can be said about his teammates, such as how Kyle Walker stands out amongst his teammates due to his incredible speed.
Similarly, Erling Haaland is the type of goalscorer the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden to name a few are not.
Or in terms of Jeremy Doku being a superior dribbler to perhaps all of his teammates at the Etihad Stadium.
Similarly, De Bruyne is also one-of-a-kind when compared to his teammates at Manchester City.
One way in which the £54.5 million man is different to his teammates is that his final ball is on another level to them and that includes creative players like Phil Foden and Jack Grealish.
Wenger shares how De Bruyne is different to his City teammates
Sure, Foden and Grealish have an eye for a pass; especially the latter.
But does either of the English duo guarantee the accuracy and range in the type of chances they can create through their final passing like the Belgian does?
For now, at least, the answer would be a resounding no.
Similarly, Kevin De Bruyne’s ability to carry the ball from central areas perhaps can only be replicated by Jack Grealish.
But even so, Grealish perhaps cannot ride challenges to the same extent as De Bruyne can and lacks the same running power over large distances as him.
Phil Foden has the quick feet and burst to beat players but similarly to Jack Grealish, he lacks the power to leave tacklers in the dust through the sheer power of his running like the 32-year-old.
However, Arsene Wenger has pinpointed that how Kevin De Bruyne is constantly focused on progressing the ball makes him different to his Manchester City teammates.
“[Erling] Haaland has suffered a lot from the injury of [Kevin] De Bruyne. Because De Bruyne is the guy, all the other players are great players but more when they win the ball, more focused on possession. And De Bruyne, when he wins the ball, he’s always focused on progression”, he said on beIN SPORTS.
“How quickly can I find Haaland?”
“The strikers know who can feed them and how quickly. When De Bruyne has the ball, Haaland is on his way.”
Kevin De Bruyne embraces chaos
In our view, Arsene Wenger is spot on in his analysis of Kevin De Bruyne, as his Manchester City teammates are players who prioritise control over chaos in possession far more than he does.
For instance, a player like Bernardo Silva often rarely even tries to play through balls even when a teammate runs in behind the opposition defence as his footballing brain is seemingly wired towards ball retention.
The same goes for Jack Grealish, especially when he plays as a touchline winger as opposed to getting the license to drift into central positions.
De Bruyne, however, seems to recognise that as a creator, how well he retains the ball matters far less than how many chances he creates in a game.
As a result, the five-time Premier League winner does just that, taking risks on the ball that might lead to City losing possession but embracing the chaos that comes with it due to the reward of assisting his teammates.
