Genk technical director Dimitri de Conde has spoken of working with Manchester City attacker Kevin de Bruyne.

De Conde, 43, says De Bruyne - who joined Genk as a 14-year-old - stood out as being special from almost the word go and now Manchester City's Belgium star is one of the best midfielders in the world.

“With De Bruyne it was quite clear that he was a special talent, it's difficult to say he would be the De Bruyne of today, you can never know how it goes.

"But in terms of quality, you could see it from one of the first games in the first team," said de Conde.

“His passing, his vision, both right and left, he was only 17 or 18 when he went to the first team and it's an advantage that we have as a club. Brugge or Anderlecht need to win the championship whereas we want to win the championship. It's a different kind of pressure that allows us to work.

“Thibaut Courtois was different and thanks to him and De Bruyne we won the championship. Thibaut made some great saves. For Courtois, he had competition and it was harder to say he'd be top, top, but you could see his talent."