Kevin De Bruyne is the second best passer with which Pep Guardiola has worked, according to the Manchester City manager itself.
Most would claim that De Bruyne is the striking performer of Guardiola's nine-year-old city management with the Belgian who has established himself as one of the Great Premier League Middendermen.
The 33-year-old has announced that he will leave Etihad in the summer, which means that he only has two games left at the club.
Guardiola has managed a large number of the most appreciated players of the game during his time responsible for City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
And he has revealed that only one of them has passed the ball better than De Bruyne.
“One is (Lionel) Messi,” he said. And the other two, let me think about it … Okay, let me put Kevin second.
'Messi is the best I've ever seen, because Messi really did it very, very close to the box, but Kevin is there. It is just the statistics, the goals, the assists, which he offers the team in the last third and the talent.
'That is unique, that is why he has been one of the best players who had this club in the entire history. These are big, big words because he has been a special player. '
Asked if De Bruyne will be difficult to replace, Guardiola said: 'There are players who for many reasons are real, very difficult, we know that.
'But the season we have done is the season we did – we can't deny it. Of course we have to continue. '
Guardiola did not confirm whether De Bruyne would start against Bournemouth on Tuesday: 'Kevin gets what he deserves. That is the best compliment for his incredible process.
“What he did with other legends in the club would not have been possible since Sheikh Mansour took over the club to reach a different level.”