Kevin De Bruyne set for lengthy spell on sidelines after suffering knee injury in Manchester City training

De Bruyne will undergo further tests this week to determine the full extent of the injury

Mark Critchley
Wednesday 15 August 2018 16:05 BST
Comments
Manchester City 2018/19 Premier League profile

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Kevin De Bruyne appears to be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering torn ligament damage to his right knee in training on Wednesday.

The full extent of the Manchester City playmaker's injury is not yet known, with further tests to be carried out this week.

De Bruyne was sidelined for nine weeks of the 2015-16 season with a knee ligament injury, however, and is now likely to be unavailable for a similar timeframe.

The 27-year-old will be assessed by City's medical staff over the coming days and is expected to fly out to see Ramon Cugat, a specialist based in Barcelona used regularly by City.

De Bruyne only returned to training at City last week, having progressed to the latter stages of the World Cup with Belgium.

Despite only a week's worth of training, Pep Guardiola named De Bruyne among the substitutes for Sunday's trip to Arsenal and brought the playmaker on after the hour-mark.

De Bruyne's absence will come as a significant blow to the Premier League champions, who were inspired by his performances on the way to last season's title.

The Belgian narrowly lost out to Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in the end-of-year individual awards and City rewarded the 27-year-old for his performances with a new contract earlier this year.

Guardiola failed to add depth to his midfield during the summer transfer window, however, and now appears at risk of losing his most influential player in the middle of the park for several months.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in