Arsenal legend Thierry Henry claims that Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has the best brain of any footballer he has seen.
Speaking in his role as pundit on CBS Sports after De Bruyne scored a sublime goal in City’s 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, Henry was effusive in his praise of the Belgian playmaker:
“I’ve come across a lot of players, played with a lot of players, saw a lot of players, played against some of the greatest. I think Kevin, his brain is the best I’ve ever seen, the way he sees the game.”
“Because his brain is in some places, I don’t know what he thinks about sometimes, you look at him and it’s almost like he’s not with us because he’s that good. Sometimes it can be a problem because you’re not on his level, but I think he’s the most clever player I’ve seen in my life. It’s just second to none, the way he thinks.”
Unsurprisingly, City supporters on Twitter were in complete agreement with Henry. Some even went a step further to say De Bruyne is right up there with the best Premier League players ever:
I couldn’t agree more. Thierry, t’es un bon
— Prisca – PL CHAMPIONSSSSS (@PriscaKPerera) May 9, 2023
Finally the legendary Henry has pronounced it🤍
— Effiakuma KDB (@Afaman5) May 10, 2023
In other words his the greatest PL midfielder of all time
— Junior 🇿🇦 (@njrcele) May 10, 2023
Henry spitting it out just the way it is, this is the same man y’all compared to odegaard/Bruno 🤡
— Adeshina (@fadashyne) May 9, 2023
Damn nice words. From a man who knows him well
— ⛄️ (@metallica842) May 9, 2023
De Brain
— bro (@ayt_bro) May 9, 2023
De Bruyne really stepped up when his team needed him most at the Bernabeu. It’s fair to say that he didn’t put in one of his best performances on Tuesday night but he produced a moment of real quality to score the equaliser.
In terms of Henry’s remarks, De Bruyne’s intelligence is something that doesn’t get talked about enough, and it’s good to see pundits giving credit where credit’s due.