Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has declared Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne the best in the world for his role.

Asked whether there are better midfielders than De Bruyne in the world, Martinez was adamant.

"No, no, no, definitely not," he told the Daily Mail. "Kevin De Bruyne is a modern playmaker. Xabi Alonso at Liverpool or Xavi Hernandez at Barcelona. When they received the ball, everything had to slow down and this allowed them to execute the pass.

"De Bruyne, he executes passes before the flow of the game has seen it, before people have seen it. A completely different understanding of what a playmaker is."