Guardiola gives De Bruyne fitness update ahead of crucial week

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted at a return for star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne ahead of the club’s games against Leeds United and Real Madrid in the coming week. 

Manchester City are still chasing what would be a historic treble for the club, and they will be elated to welcome De Bruyne back from a muscle injury that has kept him out of contention in their last two games against Fulham and west Ham in the Premier League.  

The Belgian midfielder has been on the sidelines since his virtuoso performance against Arsenal where he scored two goals in Manchester City’s 4-1 win but Guardiola is positive that he will make his return soon. 

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s weekend game against Leeds, Guardiola was happy to announce that De Bruyne had trained normally, saying that the midfielder could return as soon as the Leeds fixture if all goes well. 

Speaking with BBC Sport, Guardiola said, “He [De Bruyne] trained yesterday and trained good. Today, we train and then we will decide after training. 

“Losing or missing just one week or 10 days of training, at this stage of the season, is not a problem.”

Manchester City will be hoping to have De Bruyne back sooner rather than later as the 31-year-old Belgian has proved to be one of their most important players this season, registering an astonishing 27 assists in all competitions as well as nine goals.