De Bruyne began his Premier League career at Stamford Bridge but found opportunities hard to come by. He subsequently rebuilt his reputation in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg before Manchester City spent £50million in the summer of 2015 to bring him back to England.
The 31-year-old is now considered one of the best midfielders of his generation and demonstrated his class with another impressive display during Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final rout of Real Madrid. Lampard’s Chelsea team will face Manchester City on Sunday and he acknowledges that stopping De Bruyne will be essential to their hopes of spoiling the Etihad party.
During his pre-match press conference, Lampard expressed his admiration for Kevin as a player. He mentioned that he liked him when they were teammates at Chelsea and still likes him as a top-class midfield player. Lampard recalled their time at Chelsea when they mainly played a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Kevin fighting for the No.10 position or one of the two wide players.
Although they were not in competition for a place in the side, Lampard acknowledged Kevin’s quality. He described Kevin as a fantastic player who has become a top player for Manchester City over the past few years.
Lampard also mentioned that when Kevin was with them in his younger days, Chelsea was quite well-stacked in attacking areas with players like Eden Hazard, Andre Schurrle, and Juan Mata. However, Lampard remembers Kevin’s hunger and desire to come in and play. Overall, Lampard sees Kevin as one of many threats that they will have to plan for.
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