N'Golo Kante or Kevin De Bruyne? Who is the better player?
Kante and De Bruyne are the two driving forces of Manchester City and Chelsea for their recent victories in England and Europe. The contribution from central midfielders is not recognized by everyone but football pundits and fans see the importance they have in their team.
Kevin De Bruyne is a more established player having his domination in the Premier League for a long time. While Kante started his Premier League career late when he moved to Leicester City. In less time Kante has proved his importance in the defensive midfield area and now he is compared to De Bryune as who is more effective in the central midfield area.
The debate has been up for a long time but before jumping to conclusions let’s compare them statistically.
One of Kevin De Bruyne, Jorginho or N'Golo Kanté will be named UEFA Men's Player of the Year for 2020/21 – the first all-midfield shortlist in the prize's 11-year history. pic.twitter.com/fMv39pO1W0
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) August 19, 2021
1: Personal Stats
Kevin De Bruyne is more of a centre attacking midfielder compared to Kante who plays the role of a defensive midfielder. That being said it won’t be fair to actually judge these two based on the goals scored and assists.
In the current Premier League season 2021/21 these two have continued with their great performance after winning massive titles in the previous season. The table below suggests the difference between these two based on their performance in this season.
Now it is clear that they are very close to each other when it comes to making their mark on the field. The common thing about them is that both are extremely calm and don’t like to brag about themselves like other players.
The career stats based on goals/assists suggest that De Bruyne is way ahead of Kante. The style of player he is not many players can overtake him.
Kevin De Bruyne is the winner in this category.
Kevin De Bruyne | 19/20 #PL Stats:
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 26, 2020
👕 35 Appearances
⚽️ 13 Goals
🅰️ 20 Assists
🔥 33 Goal Contributions
🐐 THE BEST.#MCFC | @ManCity | #ManCity pic.twitter.com/A5k8TI4oPM
2: Titles
The world knows about the glories Kevin and Pep won in the Premier League. A number of critics claim De Bruyne to be the main reason for their recent glory in England. The Belgian is always ahead of other midfielders when it comes to winning titles in this generation. He won 3 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup, 1 German Cup and other titles in his early career in Belgium.
The trophy cabinet of N’Golo Kante is more complete than Kevin De Bruyne. The number of titles for him maybe less but the variety of them can make him win in this category easily. Kante won 2 Premier League titles, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 FA Cup and a UEFA Supercup.
N’golo Kante is the winner in this category as he has secured the league and Europe.
N’Golo Kante MOTM in a #UCLFinal.
— Jake Heasman (@jakeheasman) May 29, 2021
Absolutely bossed Modric, Kroos, Casemiro and De Bruyne…
If you think there’s a better midfielder in the world, well, you’re wrong. pic.twitter.com/8GM3APqPGy
3: International Career
The Belgium National team is always filled with promising talents but unfortunately, they don’t make it to lift any title. In his international career, Kevin did not win anything with his country. The player has given remarkable performances for his country in the past yet did not manage to achieve it.
It is an honour to get called up for France and Kante managed to be a regular part of it, with the amount of talent available any mistake can lead to not getting selected for their squad. Kante has been an important part of the French team where he achieved great success for his country and himself.
N’Golo won the two most prestigious international titles that many players only dream to win. Kante won the World Cup and the UEFA Nations League.
The French Champion Kante is the undisputed winner in this category.
Guys I've found another photo of Kante with the WC trophy pic.twitter.com/omfblnElCY
— felix🌵 (@ldnfelix) July 15, 2018
4: Individual Titles
Every player is rewarded for his performance and these two have plenty of awards in their name. The list is long and it is difficult to compare as each award hold different importance and experience for them.
Individual Honours of N’Golo Kante:
PFA Team of the Year: 2015–16 Premier League, 2016–17 Premier League
ESM Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17
Leicester City Players’ Player of the Year: 2015–16
L’Équipe Team of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
Premier League Player of the Season: 2016–17
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2016–17
Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
Chelsea Player of the Year: 2017–18
Trophées UNFP for Best French Player Abroad: 2017, 2018
French Player of the Year: 2017
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2018
UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season: 2020–21
Individual Honours Of Kevin De Bruyne
Bundesliga Young Player of the Year: 2012–13
Bundesliga Player of the Year: 2014–15
Bundesliga Team of the Year: 2014–15
UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2014–15
Footballer of the Year (Germany): 2015
Manchester City Player of the Season: 2015–16, 2017–18,2019–20
Manchester City Goal of the Season: 2019–20
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2020
IFFHS Men’s World Team: 2017,2019, 2020
UEFA Team of the Year: 2017, 2019, 2020
ESM Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
Premier League Playmaker of the Season: 2017–18, 2019–20
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2018
Premier League Player of the Season: 2019–20
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2019–20, 2020–21
UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season: 2019–20
IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker: 2020
IFFHS UEFA Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
Based on the quantity Kevin De Bruyne is the winner with many great awards in his name.
Kevin De Bruyne 2019/20 #PL season:
— OLT SPORTS (@olt_sports) September 8, 2020
👕 35 Appearances
⚽️ 13 Goals
🅰️ 20 Assists
🔥 84.8 Mins Per Goal Contrib.
✨ #ManCity's first ever #PFA Players' Player of the Year winner.@premierleague #PFAawards @ManCity pic.twitter.com/2W5f8od36r
5: Club
The two extraordinary players have worked hard to reach this level of football. They had to work hard to make their way into the clubs they are playing in right now. The career led by these two is inspirational for many other young players who aspire to be professional footballers in future.
N’Golo Kante:
They had to work hard to make their way into the clubs they are playing in right now. The career led by these two is inspirational for many other young players who aspire to be professional footballers in future.
Leicester saw potential in him and signed him in 2015 along with some other players the world did not know of back then. N’Golo Kanté at Leicester City was MAGICAL and he won the Premier League in the very first season. The player was also featured in the Premier League Team Of The Season ahead of many big names.
Kante caught the eye of Chelsea and they signed him in 2016. Kante in Chelsea was much better and he won the Premier League again in the very first season two times in a row. He also got the Player Of The Season title for his contribution to the team.
As a child, N'Golo Kante's team won this trophy being held to the right. KANTE's BEST YOUNG PLAYER AWARD is being raised by other kids while he looks on.
— World Publicist (@IsimaOdeh) July 18, 2018
When France won the World Cup, he was too shy to ask to take a photo with the cup. Nzonzi told his mates to give it to him. pic.twitter.com/UidcdZSurj
Kevin De Bruyne:
KAA Gent Youth Academy found Kevin and he played for most of his early career for them. After 7 years Chelsea decided to sign him in 2012. It was a big move for Kevin to move into the Premier League. The player failed to perform with Chelsea and was eventually sold to Wolfsburg.
After moving to Germany he worked hard on his game and was starting to get media attention. When Manchester City made a bid on Kevin many other teams were interested in him. The player decided to join Man City and it has been his home since then.
#TBT when Kevin De Bruyne played for potential last 16 opponent KAA Gent pic.twitter.com/bcwpqIX8OW
— BlueMoonRising (@BMRising) December 10, 2015
Who is the better player? N’Golo Kante Or Kevin De Bruyne?
Kevin De Bruyne is an absolute genius who can attack, dribble and assist his team. The shots made by De Bruyne are accurate and his passes often lead to easy goals. Harry Kane named it as a ‘Strikers dream’ to get such balls near the goal area. He can play as a second striker or a winger using his significant dribbling skills. Some critics name him as the best midfielder in the whole world.
N’Golo Kanté is one of the best midfielders of this era. He has won every single major title possible to win by any English club. His stamina is unreal as he can run for 90 minutes and still make great tackles without taking any breath. Kante is humble, honest, simple, dedicated, religious and the best part is his perfect Smile.
What a photo! 💙 pic.twitter.com/zXjzIkB5ul
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 18, 2021
Based on the above stats it is a draw. The two players have different roles to play and they are perfect in their position. If you want a more attacking midfielder then Kevin is your winner. If you want someone who can correct your teams mistake in attack and stop the counter-attack then Kante is your winner.
The choice is yours. You decide
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