Kevin De Bruyne further cemented his status as one of the best players in the Premier League over the course of the 2017-18 season.The 26-year-old was unfortunate to miss out on the PFA’s Premier League Player of the Year award to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah after playing a starring role in Manchester City’s title-winning campaign.Some people felt that De Bruyne would have been a worthier winner for the individual accolade than the Egyptian.Nevertheless, there aren’t many players in world football that Pep Guardiola would swap De Bruyne for.The Belgium international is unquestionably one of the Premier League’s genuine world-class players.De Bruyne will aim to showcase his talents at the World Cup finals in Russia over the next couple of weeks.He made his first appearance of the tournament against Panama on Monday afternoon, as Belgium aimed to begin their campaign by securing all three points before England’s match against Tunisia.

Danny Murphy raises eyebrows with De Bruyne claim

However, Danny Murphy raised eyebrows on social media with comments he made about De Bruyne before kick-off.

The former Liverpool midfielder waxed lyrical about the Belgian but then said that De Bruyne is the best player he’s ever seen - yep, ever - at opening teams up.

“What I love is his variation and his ability to open teams up,” Murphy said. “I’d go as far as to say he’s the best I’ve ever seen at being able to open teams from anywhere on the pitch.”

“Best you’ve ever seen?” host Gary Lineker said, sounding somewhat bemused. “Quite a statement.”

'That's how good I think he is'

“Well… that’s how good I think he is,” Murphy continued.

“It’s because of his variation. He’s not just [about] through balls. It’s crosses, it’s his left foot, his right foot. His assists are just incredible. Some of the passes… he can play on the right, on the left. He’s sometimes sat deep for Pep [Guardiola] and dictated play, he’s a good athlete.”

So, better than the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and everyone else at opening up defences. You sure about that, Danny?

Viewers immediately took to social media to mock Murphy’s outlandish claim…

Although De Bruyne is obviously a top player, it’s impossible to agree with Murphy’s opinion that he’s the best player ever at opening up defences.