Welcome to #Euro2016Rank, a weeklong look at the top 25 players we expect to see at the European Championship. Over 50 ESPN FC experts and writers from across the globe voted, and we're rolling out the results right up to opening day, when France plays Romania on June 10.
Why is Kevin De Bruyne in the top 25?
One of the greatest follies of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea regime is the failure to make the best of De Bruyne's talents. At Stamford Bridge, he was never granted the freedom that Belgium, Wolfsburg and now Manchester City give him to cause havoc against opposing defences. Having been jettisoned by Chelsea, it was at Wolfsburg that De Bruyne flourished, making himself the 2015 footballer of the year in the Bundesliga, and tempting City to pay £55 million for him in the summer of 2015. At the 2014 World Cup, he was his country's prime creative force as Belgium reached the quarterfinals.
What the experts say:
"With De Bruyne, if you have a player knocking on your door and crying every day he wants to leave, you have to make a decision. At that time, Chelsea did well." -- Jose Mourinho, in August 2015, trying to explain selling De Bruyne to Wolfsburg for £18m.
"How De Bruyne played over 18 months at Wolfsburg was madness." -- former Bayern Munich and now-City manager Pep Guardiola, October 2015.
Career highlight:
Scoring the winning goal for City against PSG in the Champions League quarterfinal in April 2016, taking the club into the semifinals for the first time.
Stat of the season:
Manchester City's win percentage without De Bruyne on the pitch in 2015-16 was just 27 percent. With him playing, it was 50 percent.
What next for De Bruyne after Euro 2016?
De Bruyne will be working with Guardiola at City, where he will hope to improve on last season's fourth-placed Premier League finish.
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