Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he rates Kevin de Bruyne as highly as any player he has managed, with the exception of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

The Belgian scored City’s first goal in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

He now has 18 goals and 16 assists in 48 games for the Blues, who have begun the season with a club-record eight successive wins in all competitions.

Guardiola said: “Messi is on a table on his own. No-one else is allowed. But the table beside, Kevin can sit there.”

Throughout his stellar coaching career, 45-year-old Spaniard Guardiola has managed some of the world’s finest players, including Xavi and Andres Iniesta at Barcelona and Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller at Bayern Munich.

De Bruyne has taken seven games to show his new manager how talented he is, and took just 15 minutes to score against Bournemouth, as he did in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford seven days earlier.

http://www.105africa.net/messi-kevin-de-bruyne-says-man-city-boss-pep-guardiola/

The main reason De Bruyne signed City contract, after interest from Madrid and Barcelona.
http://www.goalismafooty.com.ng/2018/01/23/de-bruyne-signs-280000-week-contract/