Wayne Rooney has boldly called Kevin De Bruyne the 'best Premier League midfielder' in history ahead of today's FA Cup final clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley.
The two teams will do battle in the capital with the country's oldest trophy on the line.
It will be De Bruyne's last final for City, with the veteran confirming earlier this season that he'll be leaving the Etihad this summer.
The 33-year-old has won six Premier League titles with the club, as well as two FA Cups and the Champions League, to establish himself as a modern day great.
Wayne Rooney has boldly called Kevin De Bruyne the 'best Premier League midfielder' in history ahead of today's FA Cup final clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley
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Rooney played with Paul Scholes at Manchester United.
And he also shared a dressing room with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard with England, too.
Rooney, however, has said on the BBC that he feels De Bruyne in the best midfielder in Premier League history - instead of his old team-mates.
"I think @KevinDeBruyne is the best Premier League midfielder," he said.
"He can run games like [Steven] Gerrard, score goals like [Frank] Lampard, create like [Ryan] Giggs or [Paul] Scholes."
De Bruyne was written off by many when he left Chelsea for Wolfsburg back in 2013.
He had failed to win round Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge and was shown the door as a result.
But De Bruyne has dazzled for City, with the playmaker netting 72 goals and registering 119 assists in the Premier League alone.
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Kevin De Bruyne starts for Man City against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final
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With the Belgium international set to depart, City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that everybody associated with the club wants to give De Bruyne the perfect send-off.
“Of course Kevin wants to do it for us and the team and of course we want to do it for him but you have to perform, behave and do something,” he said.
“It would be nice. He was not the captain for many, many years but he’s lifted already a lot of trophies. He lifted 19 trophies in 10 years, which is not bad!
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“He’s played a lot of important games. One season he was injured all year but the rest he has been a key player for us.
“If he can lift one more that would be good but he’s lifted a lot.”
The Spaniard continued: “I play him because I believe he can produce what he has produced so far.
Wayne Rooney played alongside Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard during his career
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“Against Crystal Palace we were 2-0 down and he changed the game with his free-kick. We can not do it just to be nice.
“It’s because I truly believe that we need him and he can help us.
"I don’t know [if he will start at Wembley] yet. I have an idea but we will see.”
