Daniel van Buyten has given one Manchester City player a massive compliment.
The 46-year-old was at the Etihad Stadium during a six-month loan from Marseille in 2004.
Van Buyten impressed during his stint at Manchester City.
However, City were unable to sign the Belgian permanently, with Marseille deciding to sell him to Hamburg SV.
After spending two years at the German club, the Chimay-born defender went on to sign for Bayern Munich — where he spent eight years and most notably won the treble in 2013.
Daniel van Buyten had the experience of playing alongside Manchester City legends such as Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany in the Belgian national team.
Daniel van Buyten makes fresh Kevin De Bruyne claim
Van Buyten also trained alongside De Bruyne in the national side ahead of the 2014 World Cup, when he was just 23.
It was later in the same year that the midfield maestro had joined VFL Wolfsburg and announced himself to the world as the next big thing.
Having played alongside De Bruyne and Toni Kroos at Bayern, Daniel van Buyten was quizzed by Rio Ferdinand about which midfielder is the superior passer of the ball.
Van Buyten could not split the pair while speaking to FIVE’s official YouTube channel: “Toni Kroos is more, the passes to the defender and [Kevin] De Bruyne is more, the assists for the goal. It’s a little bit different. Both in the team would be perfect because you have more offensive, with De Bruyne and Kroos.”
“Both, they do what someone can do with the basketball with the head, the feeling is…”
Rio Ferdinand asked: “Who, Kroos?”
Van Buyten replied: “Both.”
Kevin De Bruyne is a better passer than Toni Kroos
The Real Madrid legend can perhaps dictate a game in a way De Bruyne cannot — being one of the game’s greatest deep-lying playmakers. Manchester City’s number 17, on the other hand is an attacking midfielder.
As a result, the counterargument that can be made is that the 33-year-old’s role is not to control the game from deeper areas of the pitch.
However, unlike Kroos, who very rarely creates a big chances for his teammates, De Bruyne is not only an elite creator but he can execute every pass in the book — dropping deep and spraying long passes, through balls, low crosses, line-breaking the passes, the list goes on and on.
As a result, the Belgian skipper perhaps has more variety when it comes to his passing range, mainly due to his chance creation in the final third as opposed to the six-time Champions League winner.
But both players can pull off the same type of passes and have an argument to be the game’s two greatest passers we have ever come across.
