Kevin de Bruyne feels he is pretty close to Ballon d’Or award

Belgium international Kevin de Bruyne believes he is pretty close to winning the Ballon d’Or, given he is entering the prime of his professional career. The 28-year-old has been a superb servant for Manchester City over the past five years and during this period, he has contributed 50 goals and 86 assists from 206 appearances.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, De Bruyne was asked whether he stands the chance of winning the Ballon d’Or title and he answered in the affirmative saying: "[I'm] probably not too far. But who am I to decide that?I just try to be the best I can be. I've been playing well over the last few years and even last season, I had a lot of injuries but the times that I was on the pitch, I was doing OK. Even in Germany, I had good years and I felt happy, but who decides [the best footballers], I don't know, but I think I'm pretty close."

The Citizens have been a dominant force in English football over the past decade where they have benefited from the vast spending from owner Sheikh Mansour. Of course, that has recently put them in trouble with the Financial Fair Play rules of UEFA and they have been handed a two-year ban from European competitions starting from the summer.

Barring a successful CAS appeal, the punishment could remain unchanged and that could contribute to the exodus of star players from the squad. De Bruyne and his teammates have failed to challenge for the Champions League title despite being the early favourites but they have the chance to put things right this season.
The Citizens recently beat Real Madrid by a 2-1 score during the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. They have the advantage of a couple of away goals for the return leg at the Etihad Stadium and are certainly favourites to make the quarter-final stage of the competition.