Kevin De Bruyne has raised the bar to such a degree in a Manchester City shirt that not many midfielders in the history of the game can claim to be better players than him.
Wayne Rooney claimed De Bruyne surpassed Steven Gerrard and is a certain inclusion in a Premier League all-time XI — which is some statement to make from a Manchester United legend.
Rooney named the Manchester City maestro in his side that would feature Gerrard and Roy Keane — despite playing alongside legendary midfielders like Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Such is the respect that Kevin De Bruyne commands as he is one of the best players in the history of the game.
Even Bernardo Silva lauded De Bruyne by singling his teammate out as the greatest player to ever don a City shirt as his quality and accolades speak for themselves.
Bastian Schweinsteiger says he was better than Kevin De Bruyne
Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is remembered for his spells at Bayern Munich and Manchester United in particular was quizzed about whether he feels he is a superior player to De Bruyne.
Having won the World Cup, the treble and eight Bundesliga titles amongst many, Schweinsteiger certainly has the trophies to his name to be mentioned in the same breath as De Bruyne.
With that being said, Bastian Schweinsteiger confidently claimed he is indeed a superior midfielder to De Bruyne while speaking to Daily Mail Sport.
Schweinsteiger still admires Pep Guardiola and he must be aware of how influential the Belgian has been to his success but in this instance, he has decided to back his game over that of the six-time Premier League winner.
Comparing Kevin De Bruyne and Schweinsteiger’s stats
De Bruyne matched Lionel Messi by becoming only the second player to register 250 goal involvements under Guardiola’s guidance — which highlights how outstanding he has been for years.
Even Rodri regards De Bruyne as an all-time great as there are simply not many players who have dominated English and European football like he has over the years.
Comparing Bastian Schweinsteiger’s stats to that of De Bruyne’s gives an idea of how the pair stack up against each other.
| CAREER COMPARISON | BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER | KEVIN DE BRUYNE |
| APPEARANCES | 670 | 647 |
| GOALS | 82 | 155 |
| ASSISTS | 111 | 261 |
| TROPHIES WON | 20 | 20 |
The pair have won the same number of trophies as each other, for starters.
As far as goals and assists are considered, De Bruyne certainly has the edge over Bastian Schweinsteiger — having 396 goal involvements (155 goals and 261 assists) in comparison to the German’s tally of 193 (82 goals and 111 assists) despite making 23 lesser appearances.
The former Bayern Munich captain, who Manchester United sold to Chicago Fire for just 3 million (The Week) was a box-to-box midfielder while the Sky Blues phenom is a number 10 — which makes them fundamentally different players and why a comparison between the two is a strange one in the first place.
