Steve Bruce has claimed that one current Manchester City player is as important to the team as Kevin De Bruyne.
The 32-year-old spent a large chunk of the season out injured with a hamstring issue that required him to have surgery.
Even though De Bruyne has been back playing again since January, one former Premier League manager has suggested that another figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad has become as significant to the City team as their mercurial Belgian.
Bruce says ‘top’ Man City player is just as important as De Bruyne
Speaking on BBC 5 Live Sport, Bruce had this to say about Phil Foden and his importance in the City squad following his performance in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday.
He said: “I think to the Man City set up at the moment he is as important as a De Bruyne. You only have to watch him now and he plays every week, there is not often he’s rested, I know Pep thinks the world of him and when you see him producing this performance today, you have to acknowledge that we have one of the top players in Europe if not the world in that position.”
This season has seen the Englishman feature in all but three of City’s matches across all competitions, which backs up Bruce’s point about how important he has been for the team.
Across his 30 Premier League appearances, Foden has racked up the second-highest number of shot-creating actions (120) and goal-creating actions (16) in the City squad.
Looking back to the previous league campaign, De Bruyne topped those lists with 176 shot-creating actions and 31 goal-creating actions.
This, therefore, shows how important the England international has been in terms of creating and scoring goals for his side in De Bruyne’s absence for a lot of the season.