Nedum Onuoha has said that Yaya Toure was better than Kevin De Bruyne at his absolute best.
The pundit emphasised how devastating Toure was when he played with him at Manchester City during the latest episode of the Filthy Fellas podcast.
Shaun Wright-Phillips also once mentioned how the Ivorian singlehandedly won City countless games during his time at the club, which he believes is not given the time of the day it should by many.
Nedum Onuoha says Yaya Toure was better than Kevin De Bruyne at his best
Jack Grealish also feels the three-time Premier League winner is one of the toughest players he has ever come up against.
Vincent Kompany also mentioned how his former teammate could simply do anything and everything on a football pitch.
As Yaya Toure remains revered amongst his peers, Nedum Onuoha has gone as far as to say that he was a bigger matchwinner than the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
“When I do some stuff for ESPN, someone once asked a question, start, bench, sell and it was Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva. David Silva’s got a statue outside the stadium. I played with him, he’s different. I remember when he first came, I had the ball and in a game, he was coming towards me, there was someone behind him so I didn’t pass it to him and moved it elsewhere”, he said on the Filthy Fellas podcast.
Nedum Onuoha explained the difference between Yaya Toure and Kevin De Bruyne as matchwinners.
“He was telling me off for the next five minutes, ‘When someone’s with me, that’s when I want the ball’ because he’s playing 4-D chess with people thinking they’re in control of him. He’s different. But Kevin De Bruyne, top. When he’s playing well for City, it’s a good chance they’re going to win. If Yaya Toure played well for City, there’s no point watching.”
“It’s done. He’s going to win because there’s no match against him. Which defensive mid [midfielder] can you picture that can deal with him?”
Kevin De Bruyne has more to his game than the Ivorian
While Nedum Onuoha is fair to claim that Yaya Toure was unstoppable at his very best, the same can be said about Kevin De Bruyne.
In our view, the Belgian skipper has more to his game than the former Barcelona midfielder.
The area where De Bruyne trumps Toure, especially when it comes to turning a game on its head is his final ball, as was the case against Newcastle United when he set Bobb’s late winner.
Yaya Toure could dismantle a team with his exceptional ball-carrying ability and shooting but unlike Kevin De Bruyne, he did not play seemingly impossible passes to set up winners for his teammates.
However, it is fair to say that teams struggled to find a solution when both Toure and De Bruyne were firing on all cylinders for the Sky Blues.
