Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne has been ruled out of action for a ‘few months’, Pep Guardiola has confirmed after the Belgian limped out of their Premier League opener.
De Bruyne, who was forced off in the Champions League final win over Inter Milan with a hamstring injury, returned to the first XI against Burnley on Friday night.
However, the Belgian lasted just 23 minutes before he appeared to suffer a re-occurence of the same issue, and had to be replaced by summer signing Mateo Kovacic in Pep Guardiola’s midfield during their 3-0 win over Vincent Kompany’s side.
Now, the Manchester City boss has confirmed that he may not play again until the turn of the year, after reports in the Netherlands had claimed similarly, with surgery a possibility for the 32-year-old.
“Kevin de Bruyne’s injury is serious one. He will be out for a few months”, Guardiola told the media ahead of Manchester City’s supercup clash with Sevilla in Athens.
“We have to decide in the next days on surgery but for sure we lose Kevin for some time”, he added, before suggesting “It will be three or four months.”
The news may force Manchester City to speed up their pursuit of West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, who they have already had one £70m offer knocked back for, though it is thought that a consensus will be reached for the Brazilian.
De Bruyne has played a key part in the club’s recent success, and grabbed 10 goals and a mammoth 31 assists last season across all competitions. Phil Foden may be asked to fill the gap in the meantime, with the young Englishman’s career in danger of stalling at the Etihad as things stand
