Kevin De Bruyne didn’t take long to pick up from where he left off in a Manchester City shirt.

Returning to Premier League action after five months out with a serious hamstring injury, the midfielder almost single handedly ensured City kept tabs with Liverpool at the top of the table, picking up a goal and assist in his side’s 3-1 win over Newcastle.

Fast forward 24 hours and the Belgian was named in the FIFPro World XI, alongside team-mates Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland on the back of City’s maiden Champions League win.

But how does he compare to the best the Premier League has seen – the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira?

After Chris Sutton suggested De Bruyne isn’t the best Premier League midfielder of all time, Mail Sport have crunched the numbers to try and work out whether he could well be the greatest the Premier League has ever seen.

Kevin De Bruyne is already showing how good he is following his recent return to full fitness

The midfielder picked up a goal and assist on his return to league action against Newcastle

Mail Sport have analysed how De Bruyne compares to the likes of Frank Lampard (left), Steven Gerrard (centre) and Patrick Vieira (right)

Appearances

1. Lampard – 898: Tipped to go to the very top by Harry Redknapp as a youngster, Lampard did just that. 648 of his appearances came for Chelsea, 179 for West Ham, and a few more for Manchester City and New York City.

2. Gerrard – 749: A one-club man for almost all of his career, there’s little doubt that Gerrard is a Liverpool legend. 710 of his 749 career games came for the Reds, putting him third in the club’s all-time appearance list.

3. Scholes – 716: Ranked as Chris Sutton’s greatest Premier League midfielder ever, Scholes looked to have called it a day in 2011, retiring and joining the coaching staff at Manchester United. He came out of retirement in 2012 to play for United again, and he’s third in the club’s all-time appearance list.

4. Vieira – 650: The now-47-year-old racked up appearances for the likes of Inter Milan, Juventus, Manchester City and AC Milan. Most famously, though, he turned out 405 times for Arsenal.

5. Keane – 612: Keane retired at 34 due to medical advice, earlier than the five other players. He potentially would have gone past them had he stayed playing football, with the Irishman a Celtic player when he called it a day.

6. De Bruyne – 589: It’s important to remember with all these stats that De Bruyne is the only player who isn’t yet retired. At 32, and City playing 61 games last season it’s possible De Bruyne could go past all players on this list bar Lampard, should he stay relatively fit.

Frank Lampard made 898 appearances in his career – his best day winning the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012

De Bruyne is bottom of this list, but will likely go past a few names by the time his career is up

Former Manchester United man Roy Keane was forced to retire early based on medical advice

 

Goals

1. Lampard – 268 (0.30 per game): Being Chelsea’s all-time top scorer, Lampard was always going to be top for this category. The midfielder, who once returned back-to-back 20-goal seasons, delivered time and time again for Chelsea and is remembered fondly by fans because of that.

2. Gerrard – 191 (0.26 per game): Returning at better than a goal every four games, Gerrard was a regular contributor at the top end of the pitch for Liverpool. He formed some famous partnerships, too, scoring some famous goals along the way.

3. Scholes – 155 (0.22 per game): Scholes had it all to his game, from passing to leadership, and his goal return wasn’t bad either. 0.22 goals per game across his career is a solid rate.

4. De Bruyne – 144 (0.24 per game): De Bruyne won’t catch Lampard in this category either, but could go past Gerrard by the time his career is through. He may need to up his scoring rate to do so, but, if they Newcastle game is anything to go by, that’s likely.

5. Keane – 77 (0.13 per game): Neither Keane nor the man below him on this list were known for his scoring exploits, but 77 goals across his career isn’t an awful return.

6. Vieira – 56 (0.09 per game): It would be wrong to judge Vieira on his goals. He did contribute going forward in other ways, but was known for a different role.

Lampard, now trying his hand as a coach, is Chelsea’s all-time record goal scorer and netted 268 times in his career

Liverpool legend Gerrard, meanwhile, netted 191 times in what was an illustrious career as a player

Assists

1. De Bruyne – 239 (0.41 per game): De Bruyne is one of only a handful of players to have secured over 100 Premier League assists, including Lampard, but he has been relentless with his creativity. In the 2019/20 season, he equalled Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists in a single season, and, if he’s now properly fit, he could compete to break it in years to come.

2. Gerrard – 172 (0.23 per game): Gerrard played in a variety of midfield roles throughout his career, but was perhaps at his best in a more advanced role. 172 career assists is no mean feat.

3. Lampard – 171 (0.19 per game): One career assist below Gerrard (that’ll please the Chelsea fans), Lampard picked up an assist roughly every five games. Add his goal tally on top, however, and his attacking output is streets ahead.

4. Vieira – 165 (0.25 per game): Despite being more of a sitting midfielder and not having a great scoring record, Viera’s 165 assists are impressive. Attacking output was always appreciated when it came to what he was in the team for, and is a large factor in why he was such a good player.

5. Scholes – 82 (0.11 per game): Scholes is still one of the best passers in Premier League history, but the stats say they often came more in play rather than directly leading to assists. Just 82 in over 700 games for the now-Salford co-owner.

6. Keane – 44 (0.07 per game): Just like scoring, creating wasn’t really Keane’s game. He picked up an assist once every 14 matches, nowhere near the others on this list.

De Bruyne is already clear in terms of assists, and is third in the Premier League’s all-time list

Defensive midfielder Patrick Vieira, meanwhile, returned an impressive 165 career assists

 

Win percentage

1. De Bruyne – 70.1 per cent: The Manchester City man is nearly six per cent clear of his closest competitor when it comes to Premier League win percentage, via Opta. Manchester City have been a relentless winning machine under Pep Guardiola, so it’s no surprise the Belgian’s success is so high.

2. Scholes – 64.3 per cent: Playing a key role in some of United’s best-ever sides, it’s no wonder Scholes ranks so highly in terms of win percentage. Wait until you see how many trophies he won…

3. Vieira – 60.6 per cent: Though Vieira was part of the famous Invincibles, Arsenal actually drew 12 of their 38 games that season. They were a hard to beat team, if you like rather than a winning team. Still, the numbers aren’t bad.

4. Keane – 60.1 per cent: Stationed just below his old rival, Keane won the majority of games in his Premier League career. It could perhaps have been perceived to be higher, but he’s not far off Scholes and wasn’t part of the successful side in the late noughties.

5. Lampard – 57.3 per cent: Chelsea burst into life as a football club when Roman Abramovich took over in 2003, so the couple of years Lampard had before that may dampen his record. Competing under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti after that, however, will have helped things.

6. Gerrard – 50.6 per cent: Gerrard infamously never won the Premier League, despite the success of his career. How different things could have been had he made that move to Chelsea.

De Bruyne is also top of the win percentage statistics, tasting victory in a staggering 70.1 per cent of matches

 

Major Trophies

1. Scholes – 21: Scholes has the most Premier League wins on this list by a long way. A staple piece of Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides, the midfielder lifted 11 top division titles, ranging from the 1995/96 season to 2012/13. He also won four FA Cups, two Champions Leagues, the Club World Cup and two League Cups.

2. De Bruyne – 18: De Bruyne’s trophy-winning abilities have accelerated at City, with the midfielder winning his first Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup titles in recent months. Add that to his five Premier Leagues, his two FA Cups, his five League Cups – as well as his German and Belgian titles while at Wolfsburg and Genk respectively, and you have a pretty healthy trophy cabinet.

3. Vieira – 17: The main thing Vieira had over the other names is international pedigree. Having made 107 appearances for France, he won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000, as well as the Confederations Cup in 2001. He also enjoyed success abroad, lifting five Serie A titles and the Italian Cup, to go with his three Premier League titles and five FA Cups.

4. Keane – 14: It’s likely Keane would have won several more titles had he prolonged his career a little longer, but he managed a cool seven Premier Leagues, four FA Cups and a Champions League with Manchester United, while also lifting the Scottish League Cup and league title while at Celtic.

5. Lampard – 10: Lampard reached the pinnacle of club football when he won the Champions League against Bayern Munich in their own back yard in 2012. He also lifted three Premier League titles, four FA Cups in six years and two League Cups in three years.

6. Gerrard – 9: Though he never lifted a Premier League trophy, Gerrard captained the Liverpool side that won the Champions League on that night in 2005 in Istanbul. He also won one Super Cup titles on the back of lifting the UEFA Cup in 2001, three League Cups and two FA Cups, but he props up this category.

Paul Scholes lifted a staggering 21 trophies during a historic career with Manchester United

Gerrard, who infamously never won the Premier League, picked up just nine major trophies

De Bruyne, meanwhile, is well on his way to topping the list, with 18 major trophies to date