A player Manchester City made an approach for last summer has been likened to an earlier version of Kevin De Bruyne after an impressive first outing at Euro 2024.
De Bruyne himself is in action this evening for Belgium as they take on Slovakia.
There has been a lot of speculation recently about the maestro, since he only has one year left on his contract at Manchester City.
He then opened a can of worms by suggesting he would consider a move to Saudi Arabia.
Many City fans would hate to see him leave this summer, but given the obsence riches on offer to play in Saudi, it cannot be ruled out.
It would be interesting to see if City try and replace De Bruyne directly if he did go. Perhaps the club will see about a move for Nicolo Barella, who was on their radar last year.
Nicolo Barella compared to Kevin De Bruyne after Italy beat Albania
Italy took on Albania on Saturday and got off to a terrible start by conceding inside just 26 seconds.
Striker Nedim Bajrami pounced on a poor throw-in, and made no mistake with his finish.
Italy hit back though through centre-back Alessandro Bastoni, who guided in a header at the back post. Barella then scored moments later with a lovely strike from the edge of the box for Italy.
Barella pretty much ran the game for Italy. As per Sofascore data, he completed a staggering 105/108 (97%) passes, with one of those being key. He also completed three defensive actions, and won 3/5 duels.
It was a great performance from the Inter midfielder, and in the days since the game, he has come in for high praise from the former Italy U21 manager Luigi Di Biagio, who believes he is reminiscent of City star De Bruyne.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “Barella has a different physicality, but he is a mix between the first version of Kevin De Bruyne, who used to play more in central midfield and the first version of Kroos, who made more late runs.
“I knew Nicolò from the U15 and I had coached him from the U16, so I had no doubts about him.
“I used to call him ‘the lively kid’ – sometimes even too much. Sometimes, he was messy, but that mess has made him so versatile because he can play in any role – a complete footballer.”
Barella is amazing, but he’d be almost impossible to sign
Barella has long been one of the top players in Italy and it was little surprise to see him shining against Albania at the weekend.
The 27-year-old has racked up 235 appearances now for Inter after signing for them back in 2019, initially on loan. And since signing for Inter, he has made the Serie A Team of the Season four times, narrowly missing out at the end of the season just gone.
Barella has been likened to De Bruyne and Toni Kroos by Di Biagio which is a major compliment. But he would not make for a direct replacement for De Bruyne now, as his goal and assists numbers just don’t compare to the Belgian’s.
It would be amazing to see him in a City shirt, but the chances of him coming this summer are practically zero, sadly.
It has been reported that City may not sign any new midfielder if De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes all stay, and Barella did actually sign a new contract with Inter until 2029 ahead of Euro 2024.