Kevin De Bruyne could return to first-team action as soon as their next pre season game against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
City have received a boost as De Bruyne trained with the first team in Tokyo after he was an unused substitute in their preseason game against Yokohama F Marines. At the time of writing, he has also been named as a substitute for the clash against Bayern.
The Belgian was forced off in City’s Champions League final against Inter Milan due to a hamstring injury he received in the first half. Many feared that he would not be fit in time for the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
But City boss Pep Guardiola provided a positive update on the 31-year-old’s potential return on Sunday, saying: “He [De Bruyne] feels much, much better. I don’t know Bayern Munich, I don’t know the next game with Atletico Madrid, because of course he has to train but he is so close. He is coming back soon.”
The positive news for City was that De Bruyne’s recovery from the hamstring injury did not require surgery and the midfielder was able to go through recovery and rehab during his time off in the past 6 weeks.
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City will face Bayern in Tokyo, Atletico Madrid in South Korea and then travel back to England to play the Community Shield final against Arsenal and De Bruyne’s availability will be a massive boost to City for these fixtures.
Initial reports suggested that De Bruyne would be unavailable for the Community Shield final on August 6th and the Premier League opener against newly-promoted Burnley on August 11th.
City’s medical department were hoping to get him back fit to return for the UEFA Super Cup final against Sevilla on August 16th but the Belgian has seemed to recover quicker than expected.
De Bruyne has been one of City’s most important players for a number of seasons. He has scored 96 goals and registered 152 assists in 356 appearances for the Cityzens after joining from Wolfsburg in 2015.
He was also an integral part of City’s historic Treble triumph, contributing with 10 goals and 28 assists across all competitions.
Aside from De Bruyne, City had a full squad training in Tokyo in their preseason camp, with all 25 members of the tour squad present.
