Per Mertesacker played with and against a wide range of top-level players in the Premier League.
Across his seven years with Arsenal, the former defender racked up 156 top-flight appearances in total, eight of which came against Manchester City.
Out of those eight matches, the Blues only won two, drawing three and losing the other three.
With Pep Guardiola’s side now more accustomed to winning games, they have recently become the first side to lift four consecutive Premier League trophies, beating Mertesacker’s old side to the title for a second year in a row.
No though, the German has been sharing his thoughts on some of the best players to have ever featured in the top division of English football, with one current City star getting mentioned.
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Per Mertesacker includes Kevin De Bruyne in his all-time Premier League XI
Appearing in a recent video shared on the Daily Mail Sport TikTok channel, Mertesacker was asked to build his ultimate all-time Premier League XI.
For the midfield trio, the former defender picked Patrick Vieira, Santi Cazorla and Kevin De Bruyne.
De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in Premier League history
After making nine senior appearances for Chelsea back in the 2013/14 season, the Belgian made a return to England in 2015 when City signed him from Wolfsburg in a deal worth £54m.
During his time at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne has scored 102 goals, provided 170 assists and won many domestic and European titles in the process.
Last month, Alan Shearer said that the 33-year-old is his dream teammate due to his ability to set up goalscoring opportunities on such a regular basis.
In fact, despite only playing in 18 league games last season, De Bruyne ended the campaign with the highest rate of shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (7.36) and goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (1.18) in the entire division.
Taking all of that into account, we feel that De Bruyne should be in everyone’s all-time Premier League XI.
