In fact, some people have long believed that De Bruyne is the world's number one midfielder. And now that as Modric gets older, that argument is even more convincing. Moreover, De Bruyne also won the Champions League with Manchester City in the 22-23 season, achieving his own breakthrough in this regard, which is even more confident. Indeed, given his age, De Bruyne will certainly be much more competitive than Modric in the coming years. But when it comes to historical status, there is still a distance between him and Modric.
De Bruyne wants to surpass Modric in history, and there are still three elements missing.
The first element is precisely the Champions League winner who made De Bruyne proud last season. You know, this is only De Bruyne's first Champions League title. And how many Champions League titles does Modric have? 5 pcs. It can be said that the data of the two in this regard is too different. Although quantity does not represent quality, it cannot simply be assumed that the number of Champions League winners is positively correlated with the historical status of players, but when it comes to the Champions League, Modric's highlight moments are indeed much more than De Bruyne.
Moreover, in last season's Champions League final, De Bruyne did not perform well, and he left due to injury in the first half. This is reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Euro 2016 final. While this does not erase Kevin De Bruyne's credit throughout the season, it has to be said that it is also a minor flaw. And Modric's classic moments in the Champions League final are too many, Ramos' 9248 is derived from Modric's corner kick; And Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Juventus, and the assist was also Modric.
Therefore, even if you don't look at the number of Champions League titles, just looking at the performance in the Champions League final, De Bruyne still has a lot of potential gaps to fill and paint.
The second element is the World Cup results. In the last decade, Croatia and Belgium have both upstarts, or new powerhouses, in European football, and they have reached the last four of the World Cup. However, Croatia are clearly better in comparison, after all, they have finished second and third in their last two World Cups, while Belgium have only one third place in 2018 and they have not even made it to the group stage in 2022. Moreover, Croatia can already beat Belgium by reaching the final, after all, they are so close to the champion, and Belgium has never crossed this threshold.
And there is also the point that Modric is the absolute heart of Croatia, or rather, the chief representative of the golden generation. But what about De Bruyne? In recent years he has been the absolute heart of Belgium, but in previous years, Eden Hazard was the first man in Belgium. Compared to their respective positions, De Bruyne is still a little worse.
The third element is personal honor. Modric, European Footballer of the Year and World Footballer of the Year, is the game-breaker who broke the Mero monopoly. And De Bruyne seems to be some distance away from winning the award.
This point does not need to be explained too much, after all, it is clear whether to win an award or not.
Of course, De Bruyne, born in 1991, is 6 years younger than Modric. He still has plenty of time to catch up with Modric in the coming years. First of all, in terms of the number of Champions League victories, De Bruyne still has room to rise. It may seem difficult to win five times, but this Champions League title in the 22-23 season will most likely not be De Bruyne's only Champions League winner. Secondly, at the national team level, Modric has actually withdrawn from competition, and in the next few years, with the decadence of Eden Hazard, De Bruyne has officially become the first man in Belgian football. If he can lead Belgium to a World Cup final, he can compete with the Magic Flute. Third, as for European Footballer of the Year and World Footballer of the Year, in fact, after Mero left European football, this era is basically over, so the European Golden Ball Awards are more open, and these superstars of the same era are likely to win. De Bruyne, who is in his early 30s, still has a chance.
In the next five or six years, De Bruyne needs to do too much to catch up with Modric in history, and he will most likely not complete it all, but he will definitely close the gap. At least, his position as the world's No. 1 midfielder will sit more firmly in the coming years.