Kevin De Bruyne News and Analysis

5 possible Al-Nassr transfer targets in the January 2025 window

7Oct

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features

5 possible Al-Nassr transfer targets in the January 2025 window

With Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool icon Sadio Mane spearheading the attack and role players like Alex Telles and Marcelo Brozovic surrounding them, Al-Nassr have ambitions of dominating the Saudi Pro League but still sit behind Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad in the table. Here are five players Al-Nassr could try to sign in the coming January transfer window to pre-arranged future deals - or to immediate winter transfers - in order to become an even bigger power in Saudi Arabia. Manchester City AM Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne has been increasingly linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League over the past couple of years, and even though he remains the premier playmaker in the Premier League, 2025 could be the year the Manchester City midfielder makes his move elsewhere....

Ranking the 10 best Premier League playmakers in 2024

5Oct

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features, Premier League

Ranking the 10 best Premier League playmakers in 2024

From Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard to James Maddison and Cole Palmer, the Premier League is filled with top-class playmakers who provide highlight-reel assists and slick dribbles. Here is a ranking of the best playmakers in the English top flight in 2024. 10. Andreas Pereira, Fulham A lot of people wrote Andreas Pereira off after he put up mediocre numbers for Manchester United for years before going to Brazil, returning, and turning his career around with another historic Premier League side in Fulham. Now, Pereira is playing the best football in his career at the age of 28 and has become one of the best passers in the final third in the entire Premier League. He is a playmaker in his prime and one of the premier set-piece specialists in the English top flight. Pereira had a...

Ranking the 10 best players in the Premier League right now during the 2024/25 season

30Sep

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features, Premier League

Ranking the 10 best players in the Premier League right now during the 2024/25 season

10. Liverpool RB Trent Alexander-Arnold Honestly, I can't comprehend why there are so many amateur pundits who spend their days disparaging Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending as if he were on the level of a backup at Lecce when, in fact, he's an excellent one-on-one defender as a fullback. It's just that people can't seem to understand that an attacking fullback who actually tries to add value to his team going forward is going to inevitably get caught out defensively on occasion, with the frequency of those occurrences unduly distorted by an army of fail comp "artists" who clearly need a job. Alexander-Arnold is a better one-on-one defender than Reece James, who apparently earned a reputation as a superior defensive right back on the grounds of being physically bigger and having on...

Arsenal won’t have Martin Odegaard vs. Man City, but they’re getting the next best thing

20Sep

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features, Premier League

Arsenal won’t have Martin Odegaard vs. Man City, but they’re getting the next best thing

Arsenal supporters were upset and nervous when captain Martin Odegaard suffered an injury during international duties for Norway against Austria, and, now, it appears his ankle injury is more serious than initially feared with follow-up scans showing ligament damage. Odegaard will miss several matches, if not months, for Arsenal, taking one of the best playmakers and all-around attacking midfielders in world football away from the Gunners. This weekend, Arsenal will face Manchester City in an early-season title-decider for the Premier League crown, and, needless to say, they'll have to get a result on Sunday afternoon at the Etihad without Odegaard available. Arsenal can start Kai Havertz in the attacking midfield with Gabriel Jesus back at striker, but the biggest boost for the G...

Pep Guardiola publicly called out Kevin De Bruyne after Inter performance

19Sep

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features, Premier League

Pep Guardiola publicly called out Kevin De Bruyne after Inter performance

Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best players in the world and has continued to show his excellence as a playmaker by averaging a mind-boggling four key passes in the Premier League to this early point in the season. De Bruyne, however, had a game to forget against Inter Milan in Wednesday night's rematch of the 2023 Final, even before coming off at the mid-way point with a potential injury. Although De Bruyne created two more chances to add to his stats, he failed to make a positive impact on the ball, losing possession frequently while chasing shadows defensively against a dynamic Inter Milan team. Pep Guardiola noticed this and wasn't afraid to criticize De Bruyne for his display as the starting left attacking midfielder, "When you are alone and lose easy...

The best XI of free agents in the summer 2025 transfer window

12Sep

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features

The best XI of free agents in the summer 2025 transfer window

From a trio of Liverpool superstars and a duo of Manchester City icons to Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, here is a look at the best XI of impending free agents in the summer 2025 transfer window. The formation utilized will be a 4-3-3 without a playmaker, as this remains the most common formation utilize by the top teams in European football. Contract expiry is based on data from Transfermarkt. GK Alex Meret, Napoli Alex Meret is capable of producing fabulous saves and is one of the best goalkeepers in Serie A, which just might have the most goalkeeping talent of any league in world football. Although Napoli's poor 2023/24 season has caused Meret to fall by the wayside in discussions of the better keepers in Europe, the 27-year-old is a top player in his prime who is capable of t...

An early look at the 10 best candidates to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or

9Sep

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features

An early look at the 10 best candidates to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or

I always find it funny how the Ballon d'Or narrative changes over the course of a year - or season, now that the timeframe of the award has changed. Like, when the 2023/24 season first started, all anyone could do was praise Jude Bellingham for taking LaLiga by storm, putting Real Madrid back on top, and scoring bangers in El Clasico to help affirm Real's return to dominance. The guy was leading the league in goals as a midfielder, and while his performances did decline a bit in the second half of the season, we are talking about a decline from being by far the best player in Europe to "just" being great. And it's not like Bellingham was bad at the Euros either. England almost won it, and he was literally the best player in the Final which England came agonizingly close to winning...

Ranking the 10 best midfielders at Euro 2024

17Jun

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features

Ranking the 10 best midfielders at Euro 2024

As Jorginho showed the world in the last European Championships, in addition to Luka Modric and Enzo Fernandez at previous World Cups, great midfielders can make a world of difference at the international stage. Here are the 10 best midfielders you need to know at Euro 2024, ranked in order. 10. Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungary Dominik Szoboszlai's match-winning performance against Montenegro will forever live in the lore of Hungarian football. The Liverpool star is the modern day hope of the country in football, carrying a legacy that includes some of the greatest players in history, most namely Ferenc Puskas A playmaker who has become a more robust midfielder by working on his physical strength, Szoboszlai can play virtually any position for Hungary but is currently being utilized as ...

Ranking the 10 best attacking midfielders in men’s football right now in 2023

30Jun

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features

Ranking the 10 best attacking midfielders in men’s football right now in 2023

Although the modern game has seemingly phased out the No. 10, there are still plenty of footballers finding ways to make an impact in the attacking midfield, either playing there in a scheme with two flexible attacking mids or moving up into that area of the pitch from a 4-3-3. And even still, there are a few 10's getting to play in that traditional CAM role regularly, such as Bruno Fernandes, or in certain systems based on opponent, such as Paulo Dybala. So in honor of this wonderful position and the creators who inspire us to try out some killer through passes on our local community pitch, let's rank the best attacking midfielders in world football right now. We'll leave out players who primarily play as an 8 or on the wing and stick to only players who have frequently earned mi...

Final 2022/23 Premier League Team of the Season

29May

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features, Premier League

Final 2022/23 Premier League Team of the Season

Now that the 2022/23 Premier League season has officially come to a conclusion, it's time to take one final look back at the season's top individual performers at every position. Here is the Premier League Team of the Season, utilizing a 3-5-2 formation that is highly attacking because the four players in the attacking midfield and at striker absolutely HAD to make a list like this. GK Bernd Leno, Fulham: Alisson and David Raya also merited consideration here, but Bernd Leno has to be the pick in goal for the 2022/23 Premier League Team of the Season. Leno was second behind Alisson in post-shot expected goals prevented per 90 at +0.26 to Alisson's +0.27. Meanwhile, he was second in save percentage at 77.2 compared to Raya's 77.4. Whichever way you spin it, Leno was the most consis...