On the one hand, you have two of the most celebrated players in world football, on the other, a 29-year-old Cockney lad who is dining out at the top table for the first time since turning professional 13 years ago.
Still, when the diminutive Swansea City midfielder achieved passing perfection in the clubâs recent Premier League game against Bolton Wanderers at the Liberty Stadium, there was a legitimate comparison to be made.
After all, behind Barcelonaâs pass masters, the man known affectionately around west Wales as âLittle Brittonâ is now the most accurate passer in European football.
âSomeone mentioned that to me the other day,â said Britton, who can be found prompting from the base of Swanseaâs five-man midfield. âItâs nice to read, but I donât think you should mention me in the same sentence as the other two. I feel a little awkward with that.â
Point taken. However, there is no escaping the facts. A similar, glittering performance at Anfield, that earned Britton and Co a standing ovation from The Kop, gave way to another passing exhibition against Manchester United seven days ago.
This time, Brittonâs completion rate was 99 per cent. A dozen games into the new season and the former Arsenal trainee is far and away the most successful distributor in the Premier League.
Does it matter? Well, for the Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers and his side, it most certainly does.
Having chosen to mirror the model that Barcelona have made their own in recent years, for last seasonâs Championship play-off winners, passing the ball from A to B is more than a means to an end.
âItâs a massive part of our game and we love it,â said Britton. âI think everyone who comes to watch us, enjoys the way we play. I couldnât think of anything worse than playing in a side that plays it long. I donât think I would touch it, if that were the case.
âWe spend hours in training, practising our passing. We play two v two, three v three and four v four, in very tight areas.
"Then, on another day, the boss develops that and encourages us to do the same thing, but in a bigger space. You have to be quick and you need a decent touch, but as anyone will tell you, practice makes perfect.â
Chris Davies is the clubâs match analyst, whose job it is to provide the coaching staff with enough ammunition to gun down the opposition.
A former youth team captain at Reading, where Rodgers cut his teeth as a young coach, Davies is an important cog in the wheel.
Sitting back in the managerâs office where Sir Alex Ferguson shared a glass of red seven days ago, Davies had the facts and figures at his fingertips. âThe stats speak for themselves. Heâs our controller, the fulcrum of our side.
âYou wonât find Leon attempting 60 or 70-yard passes, heâs a player who makes 10 or 20-yarders. The game starts with him and to be honest, there are very few who can match his ability. We like to keep the ball at Swansea and you can rely on Leon to do that.â
At the last glance, the average Premier League central midfield player has a pass completion rate of around 80 per cent. Not bad, but as Davies says; âWeâve got a number of guys well beyond that. Joe Allen and Mark Gower are in the low 90s and Leon is just about off the scale.
âItâs all testimony to the work that Brendan has put in since arriving at the club. I know him from my days at Reading and he was always a footballing man who wanted to play the game the right way.
âHe took that to Chelsea and now the players here have bought in to it. We might not win every game, but I know that many opposition players feel embarrassed about the way they play, in comparison to us.â
Standing 5ft, 5ins tall and tipping the scales at just 10st, Britton is anything but a footballing giant.
A Lilleshall graduate, who signed for Arsenal at the age of nine, he is the smallest player in the Premier League and one of the most vertically challenged in the entire football league.
Whatâs more, having become the most expensive 16-year-old scholar, when he moved from Arsenal to West Ham United in 1998, for £400,000, Britton has taken 13 years to work his way into the top flight.
âThe way I play is the way Iâve always wanted to play,ââ he said. ââThe problem I had as a young player, was that I was used more as a winger. I suppose I struggled in that area because Iâm not a natural goalscorer.
âEventually, I was dropped back into that central midfield role although at West Ham, I had the likes of John Moncur, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole in front of me. I wasnât good enough to keep them out, so in the end, I moved on.ââ
He played 25 times for Swansea, while on loan from the Hammers in 2002 and a further 270 games for the club, having sealed a permanent move from Upton Park in 2003.
However, having rejected a new deal in May 2009, he moved on to Sheffield United A regular role in the centre of the Bladesâ midfield put him back in the spotlight, but Britton, was clearly unhappy.
After a difficult period for the club, during which time he played under four managers within the space of five months, Britton requested a move back to Swansea, stating that his previous transfer had been a genuine mistake.
A return ticket was granted and the rest, as they say, is history.
âItâs great to be back here and to be playing football in the right manner. Letâs hope we can keep our fans smiling. Thatâs the aim.â
