Kevin De Bruyne injury: Manchester City star set for ‘a while’ on sidelines after hamstring blow
Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne will be ‘out for a while’ after suffering a hamstring injury during the Premier League champions’ opening victory against Burnley. The setback did not derail City, who kick-started their title defence with a routine 3-0 win, but the Premier League champions could now be without De Bruyne for some time.
De Bruyne hobbled off in the first half at Turf Moor
De Bruyne was replaced by Mateo Kovacic, who joined the Premier League champions from Chelsea earlier in the summer. While the setback did not derail Manchester City, who kick-started their title defence with a routine 3-0 win, the Premier League champions could now be without De Bruyne for some time.
Pep Guardiola said: ‘Unfortunately he is injured again. He said to me it’s a problem in the same position as the Champions League. He recovered well but now we’ve lost him for a time, he will be out for a while. We have to reflect and talk to the doctors and the physios. Now he has to be relaxed, recover and come back. He was feeling really good before.’
Man City made a confident start to their title defence
Premier League Golden Boot holder Erling Haaland opened his account for the 2023-24 season and the Norwegian doubled Manchester City’s lead before half-time. Rodri added a third with 15 minutes remaining as Man City made a confident start to their title defence and inflicted a deflating defeat on Burnley, who amassed 101 points in the Championship last season.
Speaking after the match, Haaland said: ‘Good to start again after two months without football. And good to start with a win of course. I think we were quite controlled, for the first game of the season, I think we did quite well. We are still kind of in the ‘starting phase’ of this marathon, but it is about not stressing, relaxing and focusing on ourselves.’
What does the future hold for De Bruyne?
It remains to be seen how long De Bruyne will be sidelined for, but it is a huge blow for Man City and Guardiola will be hoping that his star player can make a swift recovery.