Ilkay Gundogan shared the dressing room with a lot of top players during his time at Manchester City.
Specifically, during his seven-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, the midfielder played alongside 70 different players in total.
Having completed his first season at Barcelona, who he joined as a free agent after captaining City to their historic Treble, the German is now representing his country at the 2024 European Championship.
However, away from the pitch, the 33-year-old has taken the time to share his thoughts on two of his former City teammates and share his verdict on who he thinks is better.
Ilkay Gundogan picks who’s better out of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland
Appearing in a recent video shared on John Nellis’ TikTok channel, Gundogan was asked to pick who he thinks is better among certain players across European football right now.
When asked to choose between Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, who he won the Treble with at City before his move to Spain, Gundogan went for the Belgian.
De Bruyne vs Haaland – two of City’s star players
After scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, who City also signed Gundogan from back in 2016, Haaland joined the Manchester club in a deal worth £51m during the 2022 summer transfer window.
With two seasons now under his belt as a City player, the striker, who Everton defender James Tarkowski said back in May is one of the hardest opponents in the Premier League, has scored 90 goals in 98 appearances for the Blues and won six major titles in the process.
In comparison, De Bruyne has found the back of the net 102 times in 382 appearances for the Citizens but also delivered 170 assists along the way.
In our view, while both are undeniably two of Pep Guardiola’s most important players, we feel that the fact that he’s been around for longer and is a fellow midfielder is why Gundogan picked De Bruyne over Haaland on this occasion.