Pep Guardiola reveals Kevin De Bruyne challenge to take him to the very top level

Pep Guardiola told Kevin De Bruyn that to hit the highest level in football he needed to start adding more goals to his game. And after the Belgian ace made it six goals in his last six with the opener in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool, Guardiola said his star midfielder is at an "exceptional" level.

De Bruyne has scored in each of his last four games o take his tally for the season to 15, second only to Riyad Mahrez, and just one short of his career-best total, which he has hit twice for City and once for Wolfsburg. With seven league games and potentially several more cup games to go, he should surpass that on current form.

De Bruyne has long been the king of the assists, equalling the Premier League record after setting a new mark in the Bundesliga, and has always said he gets a bigger thrill from setting up a goal than he does from scoring himself. But Guardiola said he needs to do both to hit the highest peak of the game.

"He has been in this level the year we made 100 points, Kevin was incredible," said the manager. "He struggled in the first part of the season, with the injuries, and needed time, but now he’s strong and creating chances.

"He scores a lot as well as assists. I said to him you have to score to reach another stage. Now he’s scoring a lot of goals, he played in a difficult position, the vision for the last pass is exceptional."

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