De Bruyne has made a surprising choice between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has spoken about who he would prefer to have in his team right now, between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Kevin de Bruyne has admitted that he would rather have Cristiano Ronaldo in his team than Lionel Messi because he is a more “typical striker.”

This season, the 37-year-old has struggled for form at Manchester United, scoring just once in eight appearances across all competitions. Ronaldo wanted to leave the club in the summer but has stayed and will compete for a starting spot with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who has impressed when called upon but has struggled with injury.

Meanwhile, Messi is more of a creative type player, like De Bruyne, with both players able to conjure up a chance out of nothing and it’s a skill not many can produce. The Argentine has started the season in impressive form, scoring six goals and chipping in with eight assists in 11 matches so far. He will no doubt be motivated to continue that form heading into the World Cup this year.

But De Bruyne has revealed it would be Ronaldo that would be in his side due to his position, with the Belgian preferring a natural forward in Ronaldo over Messi if he had to choose one. Ronaldo scored 24 goals for United last season – including 18 in the Premier League – the third-highest behind Heung-min Son and Mohamed Salah.

“I would probably say Ronaldo because he’s more of a typical striker,” the Belgium international told SportBIBLE when asked to choose his ideal teammate between the pair. “Messi is still more of a playmaker. I am a playmaker, you can give me a striker.”

De Bruyne has starred for the Blues this season and was likened to Messi following his superb showing against Bournemouth last month. He has scored once and provided six assists in all competitions – the most assists out of any of his teammates.