Kevin De Bruyne feels he has become "the complete player" and reveals his pride at being described as the best midfielder in the world.
Though his Manchester City side have stumbled in the Premier League behind Liverpool, the Belgian was the current champions' outstanding performer before football was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The injury problems of last year are now firmly behind him. He has only missed three Premier League games this season and it is no coincidence that City lost them all.
Speaking to Jamie Redknapp on The Football Show from his home while on lockdown, De Bruyne feels the consistency within his game has helped him become "a complete player".
"It's difficult to comment on form but I'm the most complete player now," he said.
"In every aspect of the game now I feel really comfortable. At Wolfsburg, I did incredibly well but I was more up and down but the past three seasons, maybe a little less last season, I'm happy as I'm playing at a constant level.
"From the first game against West Ham to the last against Real Madrid, I've played really well. That makes it satisfying that I can be consistently good at a good enough level to perform."
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher singled out De Bruyne for special praise earlier this season, describing him as "the best in the world" in his position while Redknapp has consistency called the midfielder the best passer in Premier League history and nominated him as his player of the season.
De Bruyne's stats speak for themselves: he has four more assists, has created 21 more chances and seven more big chances than any other Premier League player. He also tops the Premier League charts for successful passes into the final third and successful crosses and corners.
When asked about the debate regarding his status as the best in the world, De Bruyne is happy his name is among the elite.
"It feels me with pride," he said.
"As a footballer, you're on a long journey. At the start you just want to be a player - it's impossible to think you'll become one of the best in the world. The main thing for me is winning but when that goes on you want to evolve as a player and get higher."
He added: "I've never modelled my game on anyone. There's lots of players I admire who I like to watch but I like to be unique. I think my style is quite unique. As a midfield player, you have to be complete. The game has evolved so much that you have to work so hard to be able to do everything - in attack and defence."
With no return pencilled in yet for the Premier League, footballers are finding more time available to spend with their families. De Bruyne has two young boys, Mason Milian, 4, and Rome, who is 18 months old.
Rome is keeping De Bruyne busy in lockdown with the early signs suggesting the family might have another budding professional footballer within their ranks.
"I miss it (football) a lot as since I was five years old it's been my whole life but it's nice to see my family and my boys," De Bruyne said.
"The little one [Rome] is growing and is doing so much more in these four weeks. That's a good thing to see. I would like to go back what I love to do but the main importance now is to keep everyone safe. He's only 18 months but he's already really good at football, running around playing all day but the oldest [Mason Milian] doesn't really care about it.
"It's nice to see that one is creative and doing imaginary stuff and the little one is just 'give me the ball'.
"I'm asking my parents if I was the same at that age as he's driving me insane!"
kaooprty
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100% true. KDB is the most complete player I know. He is professional and mature player. I would love to see him win ballondor one day