Micah Richards has hailed Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for what he’s been doing on the pitch recently.
After spending most of the season out recovering from hamstring surgery, the Belgian has delivered 11 assists since making his return to action in January.
With four of those assists coming in Tuesday’s 6-2 win over Luton Town in the FA Cup, one pundit and former City player has been sharing his praise for the midfield star.
Richards wowed by ‘phenomenal’ De Bruyne
Speaking in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football, Richards had this to say about De Bruyne and the current run of form he’s on.
He said: “Some of the passes he’s doing are ridiculous.
“The positions he takes up, normally that number eight, number 10 role, sort of come from passes just from the central but he can do it from either wing, centrally, quarter-back, we’ve talked about him playing so deep as well.
“He’s phenomenal, he really is.”
City signed the 32-year-old from Wolfsburg back in the 2015 summer transfer window in a deal worth £55m.
Since then, De Bruyne has made 368 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, scoring 98 goals, providing 165 assists and winning numerous domestic and European trophies.
Having supplied four assists against a Premier League side away from home in his latest appearance for Pep Guardiola’s team, it’s easy to see why Richards has been so impressed with him.
In terms of his efforts in the Premier League this season, the midfielder has the highest rate of shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (8.57) out of players in the City squad who have racked up more than two shot-creating actions, which shows how much of a creative figure he is on the pitch.
Moving forward, if De Bruyne can avoid any more injuries and is able to deliver goal contributions on a regular basis for the remainder of the season, he’ll give his side a great chance of winning even more silverware.
