Kevin De Bruyne has ranked Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes ahead of Arsenal's Martin Odegaard and Tottenham's James Maddison in terms of creativity.
The 32-year-old is currently injured after picking up a significant hamstring injury on the opening day of the season, and will potentially miss up to four months as he looks to recover from the same issue that ended his Champions League final prematurely.
De Bruyne was appearing on a segment for Sky Sports, where he was asked to rank his favourite midfielders when assessing their creative ability. To the surprise of some, but not to all, he picked out Fernandes ahead of Odegaard, outlining his consistency as the primary reason for coming out on top.
"I think he's a creative machine, just in general," De Bruyne said of Fernandes. "I think Odegaard is very creative but he's a little more controlled, Maddison is really creative, but I need to see more of him in a big team, so that can change. That's why I put him number three.
"He's been doing it for a long time,' De Bruyne added on why Fernandes ranks better in his estimation. "Odegaard were amazing last year but obviously he's younger so there's a difference in there."
Fernandes scored United's winner from the penalty spot in Saturday's 3-2 comeback win over Nottingham Forest, but it wasn't such a good day for Odegaard as Arsenal laboured to a 2-2 draw against 10-player Fulham.
Maddison, meanwhile, chalked up his first goal in Tottenham colours, scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth at a rain-soaked Vitality Stadium.
De Bruyne: Van Dijk the best central defender
De Bruyne was also asked to rank Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Silva and Lisandro Martinez - three defenders who are at very different stages of their Premier League careers.
And it was Liverpool's new captain who came out on top, with his all-round game the deciding factor for City's chief creator.
"He [Van Dijk] has everything. Obviously I know him well but he's got right foot, left foot, height, speed, he's a leader," De Bruyne said. "Thiago, also, is amazing but I think Virgil's just 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.
"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."
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This article was originally published on 90min as Kevin De Bruyne ranks Fernandes, Odegaard & Maddison for creative ability.
