Guardiola confirms De Bruyne suffered a 'serious injury' setback

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that his star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has suffered a significant injury. The Belgium international previously injured his hamstring during the club’s Champions League final fixture with Inter Milan back in June. De Bruyne missed all the team’s preseason preparations due to the setback.

The midfielder maestro initially returned for the Community Shield loss to Arsenal. He only entered the fray during the match as a second-half substitute. However, De Bruyne was then forced to be substituted in the first half of their opening Premier League game of the campaign last Friday. The midfielder re-aggravated the same injured hamstring.

City coach confirms significance of De Bruyne injury setback

“It’s a serious injury,” Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday. “First of all, the injury to Kevin is a blow and big loss for us. Kevin has specific qualities. You can lose it for one or two games but for a long time this is tough for us. But we have to look forward and we have alternatives there at other options. [There are] opportunities now for the other ones – life gives you that – and I am pretty sure they will take it.”

The Spanish manager also revealed De Bruyne may require surgery to heal his hamstring injury. “We have to decide on surgery but he will be a few months out,” continued Guardiola. The coach claimed that the decision regarding the possible surgery will take place this week. He then stated that De Bruyne would be sidelined for “three or four months” should he need to go under the knife.

Midfielder crucial to club’s 2022/23 treble

De Bruyne was a key figure in City’s treble triumph during the 2022/23 campaign. The Belgian recorded 10 goals and 29 assists in 46 total appearances between the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup competitions last season.

While De Bruyne is one of the top midfielders in the world, City has shown that they can weather the storm. The central midfielder missed a total of 12 matches last season due to injury, illness, or being an unused substitute. City went on to win nine of these games and lost just once. The sole defeat occurred at Brentford in the final match of the Premier League campaign. The club had already sewn up the title at that point of the season.

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