Sheffield United defender John Egan says Liverpool forward Sadio Mane and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne are the two best players he has faced since being promoted with the Blades.

The Irish international actually singled out Wolves striker Raul Jimenez as the best forward he has directly come up against this season but in terms of all positions, he had two other players in mind:

“(Kevin) De Bruyne or (Sadio) Mane, I’d say. Different players but they’re probably the two I’ve been most impressed by.”

De Bruyne’s one goal and two assists over the two Premier League fixtures between the two sides is likely to have stuck in Egan’s mind.

With Mane, the Irishman managed to keep him relatively quiet in the 1-0 defeat at Bramall Lane but the Senegalese international did score in the 2-0 loss at Anfield back at the start of January.

For the most part, though, Egan has been rock solid for manager Chris Wilder and United fans will be hoping that talks between the player and the club over a new contract are successful.