Micah Richards has shared his confusion at one thing he’s heard about a particular Manchester City player.
In their latest domestic season, the Manchester club followed up their Treble-winning campaign by winning the UEFA SuperCup, the FIFA Club World Cup and their sixth Premier League title in seven years.
Now that the season has ended, numerous players across the Premier League, including 14 from City, will be involved in the European Championship, which is set to officially kick off with the hosts Germany taking on Scotland.
Ahead of the tournament, Richards shared some information regarding one key figure in the City squad, who could be set to play a vital role for his country over the next month.
Micah Richards shares what former Belgium manager said about Kevin De Bruyne
Co-hosting a recent episode of The Rest Is Football alongside Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, Richards said this when the trio were discussing how they feel Belgium will get on during the Euros in Germany.
He said: “One thing I will say, though, and I was working with Roberto Martinez for CBS, who said it was very difficult to play [Eden] Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne in the same team because Hazard was trying to slow it down and Kevin De Bruyne was trying to speed it up.
“So, they were never really on the same wavelength in terms of what they were wanting to do on the pitch, which was strange really.”
De Bruyne and Hazard’s Belgium record
At the age of 32, De Bruyne, who City paid £54m to sign back in 2015, has made 101 senior appearances for Belgium, scoring 27 goals along the way.
Out of those games, 74 of them have seen him share the pitch with Hazard, who retired from professional football back in October at the age of 33.
Across the matches the duo featured in together, they racked up seven joint goal participations in total, with De Bruyne scoring two goals assisted by Hazard and five vice versa.
Last month, the former attacker named the City star as the best player from Belgium around right now, which showcases how much he admires his former international teammate.
Now that Richards has shared what Martinez said about the two Belgians not being on the same wavelength, it’ll be interesting to see how De Bruyne fares in this tournament without the former Chelsea winger in the squad.