Manchester City will be without Kevin De Bruyne (32) for several months. The Belgian is also still lingering from an injury sustained in the Champions League final
After the 3-0 win over Burnley at the start of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola had still predicted that De Bruyne would be out for “a few weeks”, now the Manchester City coach had to correct himself upwards. “It’s a serious injury,” the Spaniard said at Tuesday’s press conference ahead of Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla FC, without giving an explicit diagnosis.
De Bruyne will miss “three to four months” due to his thigh injury. It has not yet been clarified whether the Belgian will have to undergo surgery. “We still have to decide that,” Guardiola said of his brainchild. But the decision should be made in the next few days.
De Bruyne has been carrying thigh problems since the Champions League final in May. In the 1-0 win over Inter Milan, he had received treatment on his right thigh after half an hour, briefly returned to the pitch and was eventually substituted prematurely a few minutes later. The injury turned out to be more serious than initially thought during the preparation.
Rodrigo: “One of the most important players for the club “
He was a second-half substitute in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, but returned to the starting line-up at Burnley last Friday and set up Erling Haaland’s early opener. But after 23 minutes he had to leave the pitch again. “It’s exactly the same place as in the Champions League final,” Guardiola had said afterwards. The coach defended the decision to field De Bruyne against Burnley despite his problems on Tuesday: “I spoke with the doctors, physiotherapists and with him myself beforehand. He felt good.”
The reigning Champions League winners will thus have to do without one of their outstanding players for large parts of the first half of the season, and the Skyblues will also have to make do without De Bruyne for the time being in the group stage of the top flight. “He is one of the most important players for the club,” said Champions League-winning goal scorer Rodrigo at the press conference. “We will miss him a lot. “
