Paul Merson has admitted he made a big mistake regarding one particular Manchester City player.
Back in 2015, Merson and the rest of the then Soccer Saturday panel claimed that they couldn’t believe City had paid £54m to sign Kevin De Bruyne after he had failed to succeed in his previous spell in England with Chelsea.
Now though, the pundit has reflected on these comments about the Belgian and shared his verdict on the matter.
Merson reflects on previous De Bruyne comments
In a recent Q&A on X, Merson was asked what he now thinks of his famous De Bruyne comments.
In response, the pundit had this to say on the matter.
He said: “Got that wrong.”
Since arriving at the Manchester club from Wolfsburg, the 32-year-old has made 370 appearances for the Citizens in all competitions.
Across those 370 appearances, De Bruyne has scored 98 goals, delivered 166 assists and won a plethora of trophies including five Premier League titles.
Looking back over the previous Premier League season, the City star ended the campaign with more key passes (96), shot-creating actions (176) and goal-creating actions (31) than any other player at the club.
Back in February, former Chelsea and City midfielder Frank Lampard said this about De Bruyne and his legacy in the Premier League.
He said: “His understanding of the game, the goals he scores, his work ethic for the team, those have developed since I played with him obviously and we have all seen him become one of the greatest midfield players in the Premier League era, for sure.”
With all of that taken into account, it’s safe to say that Merson and his former colleague’s doubts about City’s move for De Bruyne have certainly come back to bite them based on how impressive the midfielder has been for Pep Guardiola’s side.
In fact, there is a strong argument to be had over the midfielder potentially being the best signing City have made over the past 15 years.
Moving forward, even though De Bruyne has struggled with injuries this season, if he can play a big role in the final weeks of the season and deliver some goals and assists, he’ll give City a strong chance of regaining the three titles he helped them win last term.