Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne has ranked the best central defenders he has faced in the Premier League - and given a clear verdict on Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez.
De Bruyne has been terrorising defences in the Premier League ever since his arrival at City in 2015 and will go down as one of the all-time greats at the Etihad Stadium.
In that time, he has got the better of some of the best the top flight has had to offer, though his contribution this season has been restricted to under an hour for the Treble winners.
De Bruyne had to come off after fewer than 30 minutes of City's Premier League opener against Burnley with an injury and could be out of action for up to four months.
Advert
Though it will be a while before the Belgian is back in action, he has had his say on the best defenders in the current Premier League.
The 32-year-old was asked to rank the best out of United's Martinez, Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, and Chelsea veteran Thiago Silva.
And De Bruyne opted to put Van Dijk as number one, followed by Silva in second place and United's Argentinean central defender Martinez as third.
Advert
Outlining his decision to put Martinez behind Van Dijk and Silva, De Bruyne explained that though he does rate the United defender, he has simply not faced him enough times compared to the other more experienced duo who have both been in the Premier League longer and are further down the line in their playing careers.
Speaking to Sky Sports, De Bruyne said: "He's got everything. Obviously I know him well but he's got right foot, left foot, speed, height, and he's a leader.
"Thiago also, he's amazing, but I just think that Virgil's got that little bit more.
"And Lisandro, he's a good player but I just don't know him well enough. I've not seen him enough and I only played against him once or twice, so it's hard to say where I see how I played against him.
Advert
"I've seen him (Silva) play when he was at Milan and I played against him at PSG so he's been there for 20 years, so what a career he's had."
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester United, Kevin De Bruyne, Lisandro Martinez
John McDougall