Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has confirmed that he has undergone successful surgery on the hamstring injury he sustained against Burnley.
Two months on from damaging the ligament in his side's Champions League final win over Inter Milan, De Bruyne exacerbated the issue at Turf Moor on August 11.
The 32-year-old had gradually been working his way towards full fitness in pre-season, and he came off the bench for the final 26 minutes of City's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal.
De Bruyne returned to the starting lineup as captain for last Friday's 3-0 beating of Burnley, but his night was cut short after just 23 minutes as his hamstring problem flared up again.
Pep Guardiola immediately cut a pessimistic figure about the seriousness of De Bruyne's issue, and he was nowhere to be seen in Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup success over Sevilla.
© Reuters
Guardiola was previously unsure whether the Belgium international would need to undergo surgery, although he confirmed on Friday that he would likely be missing for the next four or five months.
Now, De Bruyne has taken to social media to announce that he did have an operation to repair the damaged ligament, posting two photos of him on crutches with his right leg encased in tubigrip.
The former Chelsea man accompanied the post with the caption: "The news after the Burnley game was a really big blow for me physically and mentally.
"Now the surgery is done I'm ready to heal my body and get back to work soon. Thank you all for the support👍."
With De Bruyne unlikely to play again until 2024, the Belgian will miss the entirety of Manchester City's Champions League group-stage campaign, as the holders wait to learn who their three opponents will be in the draw on August 31.
The Citizens will also have to navigate Premier League fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur without De Bruyne before the end of the calendar year, while it remains to be seen if he will be back in time for the trip to Newcastle United on January 13.
Coincidentally, the Magpies will be Man City's next opponents on Saturday evening, and De Bruyne will be one of at least three Man City players absent from that intriguing contest.
Fellow midfielder Bernardo Silva is yet to recover from an illness, while John Stones - who was named in the Citizens' Super Cup squad - has picked up a new muscular injury and will be out for an unspecified period of time.
Meanwhile, Ruben Dias is touch-and-go following a head injury, so summer signing Josko Gvardiol will be expected to make his first Premier League start for the champions at the Etihad.
Ben Knapton
