Kevin De Bruyne says Erling Haaland is the greatest in the box he has ever played with after star striker netted another hat-trick against West Ham

Kevin De Bruyne has had the pleasure of assisting many of the best scorers of his career: Sergio Agüero, Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku, to name a few.

But none can match the goalscoring record of Erling Haaland, whose hat-trick against West Ham took him to 70 goals in 69 Premier League games.

So is the Norwegian the best striker De Bruyne has ever played with?

“It’s a difficult question. In the penalty area I would say yes,” said De Bruyne. “Generally, maybe Kun (Sergio Aguero), but it depends on what you talk about. Erling is the most prolific striker I’ve played with.

“I’ve played with some very good forwards like Kun, Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres… There are some good lads. It’s difficult to compare, but the statistics speak for themselves. He’s started the season on a roll and we hope he continues like this.”

Haaland will no doubt have been relieved that talk of a summer departure for De Bruyne, who has 113 Premier League assists, fell through.

The midfielder has received interest from Saudi Arabia, but has insisted that he has not been close to leaving. “I have not spoken to anyone,” he said.

‘There’s been a lot of noise and news. I said in the summer that I was hoping for a quiet summer and that’s what happened. I went on holiday for four weeks, came back and started training. That was it. Nothing to tell. I wasn’t entertained by anyone and I didn’t talk to anyone.’

De Bruyne, who has been at City since 2015, is in the final year of his contract but is in no rush to make any decisions about his future.

“As the season progresses, I’m sure there will be conversations. I don’t really feel rushed at the moment. It’s very difficult to talk hypothetically because obviously there are things that one wants as a family, as a person, as a project.”