Kevin De Bruyne returned to the Manchester City matchday squad in the win over Sheffield United yesterday, but he didn’t feature. He went an unused substitute, but looks likely to make what would be just his second appearance of the season when City opens their FA Cup campaign a week from today. City will take on Huddersfield Town in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. De Bruyne, who hasn’t featured since re-aggravating his hamstring injury in the season opener.
De Bruyne has been back in full training since he and his teammates won the Club World Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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He is obviously being brought along slowly, given a.) what an extremely important player he is and b.) how long the injury layoff has been for him.
He’s training with a lot of energy,” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
“Being injured is not good for anyone but I think for his mind it will have been good to have a few months off.”
De Bruyne originally injured his hamstring in the UEFA Champions League title match victory in June. That win marked the crowning jewel in City’s treble, and it marked the end of a very long season with numerous additional matches and minutes piling up.
It is easy to see why Pep is proceeding with caution on De Bruyne, and re-integrating him into the team gradually. Meanwhile City still have three players who are currently sidelined as long-term injury absentees: John Stones, Jérémy Doku and Erling Haaland.
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