Kevin De Bruyne could MISS the start of next season after snapping his hamstring in the Champions League final… as the Man City star reveals he has been struggling with the issue for two months
- Kevin De Bruyne faces fight to prove fitness for Man City ahead of next season
- The Belgian limped out of the Champions League Final with hamstring injury
- De Bruyne has been struggling with the injury for the past two months
Kevin De Bruyne faces a fight to prove his fitness ahead of next season after snapping his hamstring as Manchester City completed the Treble.
The 32-year-old was forced off before half-time of the Champions League final victory over Inter in Istanbul and is going for tests to ascertain the extent of the damage this week.
De Bruyne – out of international duty with Belgium – could risk further damage if he were to return too quickly, with recovery for the most severe problem taking up to three months.
City are expected to return for pre-season training in four weeks’ time ahead of a tour of Japan and South Korea.
‘I’ve been struggling for two months, since the Bayern Munich game away,’ De Bruyne said. ‘So I missed I would say a fair amount of games but it was all small ruptures. I snapped it all the way here so I wasn’t able to go on.
Kevin De Bruyne was left distraught after going down with a hamstring injury in the Champions League Final against Inter
De Bruyne had to be replaced just after the half hour mark in the Champions League Final
‘Obviously I missed some games but the games like Arsenal, Bayern and Real Madrid I managed to do it.
‘I had some personal things that happened with my family on top of that and I managed that. the intensity with which I play that I put my body on the line.
‘I give everything for my team and the people in the club know that. I feel proud that I’ve been able to do what I did. It’s a shame that it went the way it did for me but we go away winning the Champions League so there’s nothing bad towards it.’
The Belgian could only watch on from the bench as his Man Cit teammates took on Inter
Despite the injury woes De Bruyne did finally get his hands on the Champions League trophy
De Bruyne, who insisted that lifting the European crown does not define his career, revealed that his wife, Michele Lacroix, predicted that this would be the year that City finally conquered Europe.
‘I don’t know why my wife said in August ‘you’re going to win the Champions League’,’ he added.
‘I’ve no idea why but she always maintained I would. She said before the final: ‘I’m not worried. You’ll be fine, you’ll win it.’
‘In the end it’s a little bit of a shame because I have to tell her she was right. So that’s not the best!’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk