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Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Kevin De Bruyne’s former coach at Genk, Hein Vanhaezebrouck, has revealed the midfielder may need to leave Manchester City to win the Ballon d’Or.
What did he say?
The Belgium international has established himself as one of the Premier League’s best players, registering 25 goals and providing a further 53 assists in just 126 appearances in the top-flight.
Despite being a key part of City’s recent success, De Bruyne has not figured amongst the top three for the coveted Ballon d’Or. And now, Vanhaezebrouck has suggested the 28-year-old may be better off playing for a team like PSG where he can win the big titles and accolades on both a personal and collective level.
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He said (as translated by The Daily Mail): “He has never won anything internationally. No Europa League, no Champions League, no World Cup – and these are the things that are always taken into account.
“As soon as he wins one of these prizes I have no doubt that he will be in the running for the FIFA player of the year award and the Ballon d’Or trophy. He could yet do it with City – but with the defence they’ve got I am not convinced. I’m not saying that it would be easier for him to win the Champions League with Barcelona or Real Madrid.
“But to my mind it would be if he played for Paris Saint-Germain. Get De Bruyne to feed Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe with his pinpoint passes, and you have a team that is virtually impossible to play against.”
Illogical
To win the Ballon d’Or, surely you have to be considered the best player on your team first? If De Bruyne were to take his coach’s advice and join PSG, he would have both Mbappe and Neymar as teammates who could quite conceivably make their claims to be the star attraction.
The latter even took the decision to leave Barcelona in part to get away from Lionel Messi’s shadow, so why on earth would City’s mercurial midfielder intentionally become a team’s number two or number three option?
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At the Etihad, the road to becoming the world’s best player is far more smoother. Yes the likes of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva offer tough competition, but De Bruyne’s influence on the side is second to none. Already this season, the Belgian has scored two goals and picked up seven assists in just six Premier League games. The Ballon d’Or is perfectly within his grasp at City, he just needs to prove it by helping City to major European success.