Manchester Evening News

Hazard heaping praise on De Bruyne

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

EDEN Hazard is the latest to join the City love-in as he praised Belgium team-mate Kevin de Bruyne.

Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino are among the coaches that have spoken well of the Blues in recent weeks, and now Chelsea’s playmaker has praised one of City’s star men.

“Kevin is definitely the best player in the Premier League at the moment,” the 2014/15 Football Writers’ Associatio­n and Premier League Player of the Year said.

“City are the best Premier League team and Kevin is an important player in Guardiola’s system.”

De Bruyne - the early favourite to be named Player of the Year after a scintillat­ing start to the season - is away with Hazard and the rest of the Belgium squad, although Pep Guardiola will hope that his key schemer is not too heavily involved against Mexico and Japan.

Red Devils boss Roberto Martinez believes the 26-year-old can reach the levels that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have hit if he can sustain this level of performanc­e.

“The level of performanc­e that Kevin is having this season [and] the level of performanc­e he had last campaign shows you that he has the potential of reaching those highs,” he said.

“And there are not many players you could say that about.”

“When you get a new manager coming into a club with new ideas, you have to think and the players get pushed out of their comfort zone and I think Kevin de Bruyne has taken that and is using it to take his game to a different level,” he

 ??  ?? Kevin de Bruyne
Kevin de Bruyne

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