De Bruyne worries City for the Club World Cup

Pep Guardiola said this Friday that he still doesn’t know when Kevin de Bruyne will return to Manchester City. Without specifying deadlines, the coach indicated that the midfielder should take a few more weeks to return to training normally. Thus, he could be absent for the FIFA Club World Cup in December.

“I spoke to him, and he said he’s doing much better. He’s not training with us and I don’t know when he’ll train again. With this type of injury, it’s better not to put any pressure on it. Kevin suffered a complicated injury, with surgery. So, It’s one step at a time”, declared the Spanish coach.

As he barely played this European season, the Belgian midfielder has little chance of being in a position to play in the Club World Cup, which starts on December 12th, in a month’s time. The English team, current winner of the Champions League, will be the tournament’s big favorite, ahead of Fluminense, champion of the Copa Libertadores, this month.

De Bruyne has barely played since the current season began. He was injured in the first half of City’s Premier League debut in August – he was replaced before half-time. A tendon injury forced him to undergo surgery. The initial forecast was a return period of three to four months, a period that will be completed in December.

Without the Belgian, City will face Chelsea on Sunday, in London, in the English side. Guardiola confirmed that he will have defender Manuel Akanji at his disposal, who returned to training normally after physical problems. But he discarded another defender. John Stones is still recovering from injury.

“He is still injured. He is not ready for Sunday’s game and we will see how he will be during the FIFA Data. I don’t know if he will be in a position to play against Liverpool,” said Guardiola. The duel with Liverpool will be on November 25th, after the last FIFA Date of the year.