After having to limp off the field in the opening Premier League match against Burnley, the question is whether Kevin De Bruyne can spend the full season with Man City?

 

 

Injuries are becoming an obsession with Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian had to limp off the pitch in Manchester City’s opening Premier League match. The same thing happened when Pep Guardiola’s army beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final last season.

“Unfortunately, De Bruyne is injured again. It’s an old injury that comes back, he told me like in the Champions League final,” Pep Guardiola lamented.

The absence of De Bruyne in the match against Sevilla in the European Super Cup or the confrontation with Newcastle is too big a loss for Man City. He could even sit out as The Citizens begin their journey to defend the Champions League title.

The latest injury shows that De Bruyne has been too hasty in returning from injury. After the English Super Cup match, the 32-year-old midfielder admitted it.

Pep Guardiola’s original plan was for De Bruyne to start 50 to 55 minutes at Wembley instead of coming on as a substitute. And the consequence was the situation of kicking 11m in the penalty shootout of De Bruyne.

Pep believes De Bruyne will come back strong. But the problem is how long when the injury history of the Belgian midfielder is increasingly dense.

The 32-year-old midfielder has shown great tenacity throughout his career. The former Chelsea player has 99 caps for Belgium and that number would have been even more if he hadn’t been injured. And the match against Burnley was the 587th appearance of his club career.

De Bruyne revealed after last season’s Champions League final that he had been trying to play for two months with a high risk of injury. That raised concerns that the injury would devastate the rest of the 32-year-old midfielder’s career.

With De Bruyne’s current condition, no one understands better than Vincent Kompany, his former teammate at Man City and the Belgian team. In the last four seasons at the Etihad, the former Man City captain did not have any season to reach 30 appearances.

Kompany played his last game at the age of 33. Of course, De Bruyne’s playing career will last longer, but the worrying thing is the number of minutes played.

All of that can create problems, even with a squad as deep as Man City. De Bruyne is a unique talent and his 29 assists last season is proof.

The departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan caused City to lose a significant number of goals and assists. Obviously Mateo Kovacic has never been considered a good attacking midfielder.

Therefore, currently De Bruyne is irreplaceable at Etihad. Man City tried to find a successor to the Belgian midfielder but it was almost impossible.

In the short term, The Citizens can comfort themselves with Phil Foden. The English player has the same potential and can make the same impact as De Bruyne. The proof is the Champions League final last season when Foden came on for De Bruyne.

And if more optimistic, Man City can reminisce about the 2018-2019 season when they won the domestic treble without losing the Belgian midfielder for most of the season.

But now, there is a feeling that injury can come to De Bruyne at any time. And Man City, like it or not, still has to get used to it.