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Michael Owen Picks His Four Best Passers In Premier League History

Michael Owen Picks His Four Best Passers In Premier League History

He's had his say...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Michael Owen has had his say on who the four best passers in Premier League history are.

The 2001 Ballon d'Or winner talked about the subject alongside Owen Hargreaves in a chat with Andy Townsend and they picked out three of their former colleagues.

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Manchester United legends Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs all got a mention, but there was also special praise reserved for Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, with Owen even saying he is the best of the lot when it comes to passing ability.

"De Bruyne, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham would be my order," Owen said when asked to rank the quartet.

Hargreaves then added: "To be in that company already just shows you how great he's performing."

Belgium international De Bruyne was once dubbed a flop when he returned to the Premier League with a £54 million to City, following his difficulties at Chelsea.

But the Genk youth product has been sensational and he's taken his game up to a whole new level completely under Pep Guardiola's runaway league leaders this term.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Incredibly, following his hat-trick of assists in the 5-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday, De Bruyne has now overtaken Lionel Messi when it comes to the number of assists in Europe's top five leagues since August 2012.

Collecting stats from when De Bruyne made his debut for Werder Bremen, on loan from Chelsea, he has a ridiculous 77 assists in 176 appearances.

In 190 outings, five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi has 76 to his name, while the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Luis Suarez, Angel Di Maria, Dimitri Payet and Mesut Ozil are all in the top ten.

Moreover, if you look at data from the point De Bruyne made his City debut against West Ham in September 2015, he is also the most creative player in Europe with 41 assists, six more than Messi, again his closest rival.

With the level De Bruyne has reached this season, do you agree with Owen's opinion?

Sound off in the comments.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Football, Manchester United, Owen Hargreaves, Premier League, Kevin de Bruyne