Arsenal star names ‘special’ Manchester City legend as toughest Premier League opponent | OneFootball

Arsenal and England star Eberechi Eze has heralded Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne as his most challenging adversary on the pitch.

Eze, who joined Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the summer for £60 million, has labelled Belgian icon De Bruyne as the most strenuous league test he has ever faced.

De Bruyne made his emotional move away from Manchester to Naples this summer, joining the reigning Serie A champions after a trophy-laden decade with the Blues which saw him win six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and a UEFA Champions League title.

In a recent episode of GOAL’s Beast Mode On podcast, Eze gave the former treble winner his plaudits. When reflecting on previous battles between the pair, he admitted that De Bruyne was often several steps ahead of his opposition, naming him the most difficult competitor of his Premier League career so far.

“I’m going to say (Kevin) De Bruyne (was the toughest opponent), you know,” he told Adebayo Akinfenwa. 

“To play the way he (De Bruyne) was playing, to do the things that he was doing for that amount of time – yeah, not easy. You can tell that he’s a high-level thinker.

“These are the type of players I’ve looked up to from young, so definitely a special player.

“Probably the player you’re coming up against, and you’re like, ‘He’s got solutions to problems I hadn’t even given him yet’. He (De Bruyne) is a special guy.”

There was at one point a realm of possibility in which Eze and De Bruyne could have crossed paths as compatriots at the Etihad Stadium.

The former QPR midfielder was among the options discussed internally at Manchester City in the summer of 2024 – whilst those behind the scenes perhaps tried to plan for the future amid interest in De Bruyne from Saudi Arabia as he was about to enter the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium.

Crystal Palace, however, were reluctant to lose such a special and important player within the side, especially after losing Michael Olise to Bayern Munich. A Manchester City approach was hence swiftly rebuffed and City only bolstered their midfield in the recent window, with De Bruyne joining Napoli on a free transfer.

Eze stayed put in south London for the 2024-2025 campaign – wherein he was integral to their FA Cup final triumph against Manchester City – before securing a move to Arsenal in the subsequent summer window, having established himself as one of the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet since his arrival in north London.