Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has offered his assessement of Kevin De Bruyne's playing style, describing the Manchester City star as an "unusual player".
De Bruyne has lived up to his billing as one of the most talented players of his generation since moving to Etihad Stadium from Wolfsburg 2015, putting a disappointing early-career spell at Chelsea firmly behind him.
The midfielder has also been a key player for Belgium at international level, most notably spearheading their run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, and Martinez doesn't think there is any other player that boasts the same skillset.
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De Bruyne has already won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and four League Cups with City at club level, and is on course to land even more silverware this season.
Martinez, who has worked with the 30-year-old for the past six years at international level, believes he is now at his peak.
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"Kevin De Bruyne is probably a very unusual player," The Belgium manager has told EFE. "We are used to seeing the player who executes that final pass, who has the great vision of the game, we always think that these players need their time to execute the actions, but Kevin De Bruyne he does it the other way around, he accelerates the tempo of the game.
"He is a creative player very different from what we understand, with great technical capacity, but above all because of the vision he has for spaces and finding the time to give the ball.
"He is now in a team that fights for everything, is in the best moment of his sports career. It is very difficult to find another player who can give that role to another team."
Martinez on Hazard
Getty ImagesMartinez also discussed another of Belgium's talismanic figures in Eden Hazard, who has endured a dramatic fall from grace since joining Real Madrid from Chelsea in 2009.
The 31-year-old has only scored once in 22 games for Madrid in 2021-22 as he continues to struggle with niggling fitness problems, but his international head coach hasn't lost faith in him yet.
"We need Eden Hazard," said Martinez. "We haven't lost him at international level. At club level he doesn't have the relevance or the important role that he has always given to clubs, but his goal is still to be important for the team and help the team.
"Eden is a person who is very clear and rational, he doesn't have an ego that blinds him to what he wants to do. But at the national team level, he is our captain and we fully trust him."