Manchester City have had some truly great players over the years.
Indeed, there are plenty of Manchester City legends who are among the most talented and most decorated players to ever play in England.
Vincent Kompany was an incredible leader and an incredible defender, Sergio Aguero is perhaps the best striker to ever play for Manchester City, while David Silva was a magician on the ball too.
Silva, Aguero and Kompany all have statues outside the Etihad, but according to Jamie Carragher, speaking in It’s Called Soccer, the greatest player in Manchester City history is someone who is currently playing for the club.
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Kevin De Bruyne is Manchester City’s greatest-ever player
According to Carragher, Kevin De Bruyne is the greatest player to ever play for Manchester City.
The pundit was discussing De Bruyne’s decline this season, and while he’s not been as effective this season, Carragher says that his legacy at City is unmatched.
Frank Lampard also hailed De Bruyne as one of the best ever last year.
“Would you believe in the second-half of last season, he had the greatest rate of assists of anyone in the Premier League in terms of assists and minutes he’s been on the pitch?” Carragher said.
“For me, he’s Manchester City’s greatest ever player. Injuries are just catching up with him. He’s not being helped by City this season.
“If it was a normal season he could be coming on as a sub, setting up goals, starting here and there. For me, him and Steven Gerrard, they’re two of the greatest. He’s City’s greatest player, and they have had some greats over the past 10/15 years, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Aguero, for me, he’s number one.””
Who Kevin De Bruyne said was Manchester City’s greatest player
Carragher named De Bruyne as City’s greatest-ever player, but the Belgian had another name in mind when he discussed this topic.
De Bruyne was asked this question on the Official Manchester City Podcast last year, and he gave a different answer.
Indeed, according to De Bruyne, David Silva is the greatest player to play for City.
“It depends how you look at it, I guess. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even see the team in the 60s who did really well so I can’t speak about them. Obviously, like the Colin Bell Stand [at the Etihad Stadium], a lot of the older generation say he’s the best player,” De Bruyne said.
“But then, you have the second generation where they say Kun [Sergio Aguero] or David [Silva], or maybe myself or Vinny [Kompany], it’s a personal question.”
“I think, if you think football-wise, I would say David is probably, the way that he plays football and understands football is probably the best for me because the way that he is, you can’t get the ball [off him], controller of the tempo, so [it] depends on how you look at it.”
Silva was incredible for City, but when you compare the stats and the accomplishments, there’s an argument to make that De Bruyne has surpassed the Spaniard now.
| Kevin De Bruyne | David Silva | |
|---|---|---|
| 409 | Games | 436 |
| 105 | Goals | 77 |
| 173 | Assists | 129 |
| 6 | League titles | 4 |
| 1 | Champions League wins | 0 |
| 7 | Other domestic trophies | 7 |
De Bruyne is an all-time great for City, and who knows? Maybe one day he’ll join Aguero, Kompany and Silva and be given a statue outside of the Etihad.
