Manchester City is just two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, and they are set to receive an enormous squad boost.
According to City manager Pep Guardiola, Kevin de Bruyne is preparing to return to training very soon, having missed the last six weeks with a knee injury.
The 27-year-old was injured in the first league match of the season - a 2-0 win over Arsenal - removed after just 30 minutes with torn knee ligaments. Fans initially feared for De Bruyne’s season, as a torn ACL would have been devastating to the Belgian’s prospects this season, but he was eventually diagnosed with a lesser injury.
Now, having sat out five Premier League matches to this point and likely to miss this weekend’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion as well, de Bruyne will return to training in the coming days, hoping to gear up for action in the near future.
“He’s making the last steps,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s game against Brighton on Saturday. “He’ll start taking a small part in training in the next days I think. Everything is going well.”
De Bruyne made 37 appearances last season, scoring eight goals and assisting 16 more as Manchester City romped to the Premier League title in record fashion. He moved to City in 2015 and has made 73 appearances over the last two seasons.