Kevin de Bruyne will be back in contention for selection this weekend, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed Sky Sports.
The Manchester City star has been nursing a hamstring injury, which he picked up in City 2-0 win over Aston Villa on January 20th. Though his absence was not felt since then- Guardiola’s men have won all seven games since then, with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan in red hot form.
The German midfielder took up the baton from his Belgian teammate, scoring six goals and registering two assists, including braces against Tottenham and Liverpool. Guardiola had asked Gundogan to play in the same role as that of De Bruyne, entrusting him with all the creative workload of the team.
With the return of De Bruyne, Guardiola has a potential selection headache for the upcoming games. Manchester City enters another crucial week, where they travel to Goodison Park to face Everton before taking on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, London.
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Guardiola, when questioned about De Bruynes availability this weekend, said–
"“The doctors told me maybe next week [week commencing from February 15], maybe if he [De Bruyne] can start training with the team, that is good news for us. He has a good recovery with injury problems, [although] it can go bad at the same time.I said to the doctors, himself as well, we cannot forget what happened in the second league, the Premier League that we won.Most of the season he was injured because of muscular [injury] and came back, and then muscular again, come back and muscular again, and I don’t want to take a risk.I want to be sure; we want to be sure; he wants to be sure that when he comes back it is because he is completely recovered and fit.”Source: Sky Sports"
Guardiola was also apprehensive about fitting both Gundogan and De Bruyne in the starting line-up. He said:
"“I will have the happy position. Hopefully, he [De Bruyne] comes back soon. It will not be a problem, I promise you!”Source: Sky Sports"
De Bruyne hasn’t yet found his goalscoring form this season but has racked up ten assists in the league campaign, with only Harry Kane assisting more than him. With crucial games coming up as the season enters its business phase, City will be traveling to Budapest Arena next week, where they’ll be taking on Borussia Monchengladbach for their Champion’s League round of 16 clashes before taking on West Ham United at Etihad.
We hope De Bruyne returns to action as soon as possible!