Manchester City could do with Kevin De Bruyne right now. But the road to his old strength is rocky – while the contract talks even seem to be at a standstill.
Kevin De Bruyne was even at Manchester City when Pep Guardiola was still Bayern coach. But a situation like on Saturday was likely to have been his first experience: coming on in the final phase – with the score at 0-3. At the same time, it was one of the few scenes in the beating against Tottenham that gave ManCity fans a little hope.
After all, a fit De Bruyne would be one of the anchors that the reigning champions urgently need again after five defeats in a row. Since “that thing in Brentford,” as he called it on Monday, the playmaker has been fighting against pain. Back then, on September 14, he suffered a hamstring injury that, contrary to expectations, led not to a forced break of several days but of several weeks.
He could hardly shoot, “it was very frustrating”. But now, since Friday to be precise, he is getting closer to his first start in the starting eleven after two and a half months. “The day before the Spurs game, he said that’s the first day he feels fit,” revealed Guardiola, and De Bruyne confirmed this: “On Friday it got better, I can’t explain it.”
“If there are no talks, it will be my last year here”
In the Champions League game at Feyenoord on Tuesday, he should play for longer than against Tottenham. And then the contract talks, which De Bruyne has put on hold since his physical setback, can start up again soon. While Guardiola has ended the guesswork about his future, the 33-year-old Belgian’s is wide open.