De Bruyne among top 20 playmakers this past decade
City midfielder ranks number four on the list
Among the best
Manchester City’s star midfielder is in some elite company when it comes to playmakers.
The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) ranked Kevin De Bruyne as the number four playmaker of the past decade (2011-2020).
The formula used see’s the top 20 playmakers from each year get points based on where they were ranked.
The points go from 20 for a first-place choice all the way down to one for a 20th place vote.
The Belgian midfielder garnered a total of 103 points.
The top point-getter was six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi with 174 points.
Next was Messi’s former teammate at Barcelona Andres Iniesta with 127 points.
Croatian Luka Modric was third with 113 points.
In the past 10 years, De Bruyne went from a young up and coming workhorse at Genk to become one of Europe’s top midfielders today.
2019/20 was statistically his best season with 13 Premier League goals and an EPL record of 20 assists in the season.
Over the last decade, De Bruyne’s won 12 club trophies in Belgium, Germany, and England including two Premier League championships at Man City.
During that time, he’s collected a number of individual honours including PFA Player of the Year in 2019/20 and winning the IFFHS Playmaker of the year in 2020.
In 2015 Belgium named De Bruyne their Sportsman of the Year.
Who else made the cut
De Bruyne is not the only player from Man City to be acknowledged for his play in the last decade.
Riyad Mahrez also cracked the list along with former City stars Yaya Toure and David Silva.
The full list includes:
- Lionel Messi- 174 points
- Andres Iniesta- 127 points
- Luka Modric- 113 points
- Kevin De Bruyne- 103 points
- Toni Kroos- 90 points
- Eden Hazard- 77 points
- Neymar- 71 points
- Mesut Ozil- 69 points
- Andrea Pirlo- 63 points
- Yaya Toure- 60 points
- Xavi Hernandez- 55 points
- Cristiano Ronaldo- 54 points
- David Silva- 52 points
- James Rodriguez- 42 points
- Bastian Schweinsteiger- 40 points
- Christian Eriksen- 38 points
- Riyad Mahrez- 38 points
- Paul Pogba- 35 points
- Thiago Alcantara- 33 points
- Isco- 25 points
(JSL).
