De Bruyne NOT the best midfielder in Premier League history, says Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton believes Kevin De Bruyne is one of the top three midfielders the Premier League has ever seen, but he's not quite the best.

The Belgian made his long-awaited return from a five-month injury lay-off on Saturday and announced his arrival in typical fashion, scoring the equaliser and setting up the winner in Manchester City's 3-2 win over Newcastle at St. James' Park.

Pep Guardiola hailed the 32-year-old as 'a special player, a legend' after his heroics against Newcastle and suggested De Bruyne will be vital to City's hopes of winning a fourth Premier League title in a row.

Since arriving at the Etihad in the summer of 2015, De Bruyne has won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and five League Cups.

Despite the scintillating resume, Sutton poured cold water on the suggestion the Belgian was the greatest midfielder in Premier League history.

As he picked his top-five midfielders to ever grace the English top-flight since 1992 on, Sutton placed Patrick Vieira and Frank Lampard at number five and four respectively.

'Patrick Vieira at five,' he said. 'I mean just the way he lifted that Arsenal team, the greatest Arsenal team I've ever seen in my lifetime.

'He had everything, brilliant leadership, he was strong, he was robust. Lifted players around him, but he would be in at five.

'Frank Lampard at four, his numbers, the goals he scored. A lot of penalties. A lot of 30 yarders as well. Big goals as well, a big game player. So he'd be my number four.'

Vieira won seven major trophies with Arsenal, including three league titles, while Lampard lifted the Premier League three times with Chelsea and won another eight major trophies with the Blues.

He also holds the record for most Premier League goals by a midfielder with 175.

De Bruyne came in at number three, just below Roy Keane but there was no place for Steven Gerrard nor N'Golo Kante.

'The artist Kevin De Bruyne at three. What can't he do? He's got such unbelievable awareness. Eyes in the back of his head.

'At number two, Roy Keane. I just would have loved to have been in that Manchester United team in that dressing room.

'I was in awe of him [and of] that whole United team. He was the leader, he was the catalyst, he was the go-to man, the driving force, so he would be in it too.'

And Sutton named Keane's former teammate Paul Scholes as the finest midfielder the Premier League has ever seen.

'My number one would be Paul Scholes. I mean, what couldn't he do?

'And people talk about De Bruyne. I think Scholes was every bit as good as De Bruyne in terms of passing range, ability and awareness.

'He was maybe stronger in the tackle than Kevin De Bruyne. But I mean, it's so difficult to choose. But if you look at Paul Scholes' numbers, I think 11 Premier Leagues, he won.

'De Bruyne is nowhere near that at this moment in time. He [Scholes] went back to Manchester United [after initially retiring] and won things as well. He was such a phenomenal player.'

Keane won seven Premier League titles with United as part of a 13-major trophies haul, while Scholes lifted 20 major trophies with United, including 11 league titles and two Champions League - albeit he, like Keane, was suspended for the final in 1999.