In what could be a heartbreaking news for Manchester City fans, the Premier League giants could be without the services of star player Kevin De Bruyne for the rest of the year. The news has been confirmed after manager Pep Guardiola on Tuesday said that De Bruyne may require a surgery on hamstring injury. It is pertinent to note that the Belgium star had to walk off the field during City's 3-0 win over Bruyne which opened the Premier League season on Friday.
This isn't the first time that the 32-year-old has injured himself in this fashion. He had picked up a similar injury while featuring in the UEFA Champions League final a couple of months ago. City had gone to beat Inter Milan in that game to become the European champions for the first time.
"It's a serious injury," said Guardiola prior to the UEFA Super Cup between City and Sevilla in Athens. "We have to decide surgery or not surgery," he added.
"Surgery I think will be three or four months out."
Interestingly, City have already lost two of their most vital players from the previous season with Ilkay Gundogan joining Barcelona and Riyad Mahrez departed for Saudi club Al-Ahli. While Guardiola has gone on record saying that De Bryune is "irreplaceable", his remark comes even as there are players of the calibre of Phil Foden and Juliav Alvarez.
"Kevin has specific qualities. To lose it for a long time is really tough for us," he further said.
"At the same time we have to look forward. The skills for Kevin is irreplaceable but we have players with different talent," he stated.
City's clash against Sevilla will kick off on Thursday (August 17) at 12:30 am (Indian Standard Time). They will then be back in the Premier League, taking on Newcastle on Sunday (Indian Standard Time).