Sportskeeda's list of 50 best players playing currently: 40-31

#36 Kevin De Bruyne

"At Werder Bremen, he didn’t need to prove himself so much. This is a different reality. He’s competing against very good players, so every minute he’s on the pitch he has to work really hard."

These are the words of a very stubborn José Mourinho following De Bruyne’s run-out for Chelsea in a League Cup game with Swindon, just a few months after he was named the Bundesliga’s Young Player of the Season for 2011/12.

Four years and more than £70 million in combined transfer fees later and De Bruyne is one of the Premier League’s hottest prospects, catalysing one of the most dangerous attacks in the country. Already this campaign the Belgian has two goals to his name, as well as having amassed a total of 40 chances created.

Except for the aforementioned individual accolade, the one aspect of De Bruyne holding him back is his success in terms of trophies, or rather an absence of it. To be acknowledged as one of the greats, the 25-year-old needs more than a couple of domestic titles. Fortunately, he has more than enough time on his side to do just that.