Kevin De Bruyne is set to miss out on Manchester City’s first matches in their treble defence next season due to a hamstring injury.
The Belgian midfielder will miss the FA Community Shield match against Arsenal on 6 August 2023 and the first match in their three-peat league title defence on 11 August 2023 against Burnley. He could also miss their UEFA Super Cup match against Sevilla, the winners of the UEFA Europa League.
All these misses are due to the injury he picked up in Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League triumph over Internazionale on 10 June 2023, which was the crown in their incredible 2022/23 season.
The 31-year old midfielder started the game but could not make it to the end of the first half after picking up a hamstring knock. He was substituted for Phil Foden and had to watch as his team battled to a 1 – 0 win to earn their first Champions League title.
Scans revealed later that he suffered a Grade Three hamstring tear which will take some time and possible surgery (depending on how bad it deteriorates) to recuperate from.
The injury also means he will miss all their pre-season preparations and games against Bayern Munich and Atlético de Madrid.
He is only certain to miss out on the Arsenal and Burnley games while the club’s doctors have only expressed optimism in his recovery before the Super Cup game. The worst case will be that he sits out the whole of August and gets ready for September.
It is suggested that this could see him lose out on City’s armband after it was confirmed that club captain Ilkay Gundogan will be joining Barcelona next season. He could remain a vice-captain for the foreseeable future with either Kyle Walker or Ruben Dias taking up the mantle of captaincy in his absence.
Arsenal fans will breathe easy with De Bruyne out of action against them in the Community Shield. He was a thorn in their flesh last season and they will feel that they have a better shot at the Shield with the Belgian on the sidelines.
The midfielder is currently on holiday after a gruelling season and has been pictured with his Manchester City teammates on a number of occasions. He was pictured one time with the departing Gundogan and another time with Nathan Ake and Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk.
He is scheduled to start full physiotherapy in a few weeks and it will continue for about a month before he is allowed to train with the ball once again.
