Ivan Toney believes a Manchester City player is the one with the best football intelligence in the Premier League.
Manchester City have enjoyed a scintillating start to 2024 with only Liverpool and Chelsea being able to stop them from winning in the new year.
Pep Guardiola’s side are undefeated in 22 games and an unprecedented back-to-back treble win is a possibility.
City do have tough draws, though, as they face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals and Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.
They’re still a point behind Arsenal and Liverpool in the title race, too, so City could just as easily win no more trophies this season.
They will need all their players performing at their absolute best, including Kevin De Bruyne, who Ivan Toney rates as the Premier League’s most intelligent player.
Ivan Toney chooses Kevin De Bruyne for his perfect footballer
Brentford striker Toney was tasked with designing his dream footballer by Stadium Astro on TikTok from current Premier League stars by picking one for each different quality.
First up he had to choose the brain and he said: ‘Footballing brain, I’d say De Bruyne.”
Diogo Jota was chosen for his heading ability, Jorginho for vision and his right foot, Virgil van Dijk for strength and former City man Cole Palmer for the left foot.
When is Kevin De Bruyne back from injury?
Unfortunately for City, De Bruyne has picked up another injury which saw him miss the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle United on Saturday.
The brilliant Belgian, who cost City £54m, has also had to pull out of the national team squad ahead of his country’s friendlies against Ireland and England.
Thankfully, the groin strain is only expected to be a minor setback and De Bruyne is currently hoped to be back and available for the massive clash with Arsenal on March 31.
The stakes could not be bigger for the game, as a defeat would give the Gunners a massive advantage in the title race.