Pep Guardiola is "delighted" to have Kevin De Bruyne back in the Manchester City fold, but he has insisted that the playmaker's return from injury will be managed carefully.
After five months on the sidelines recovering from a torn hamstring, De Bruyne made his long-awaited return for the Citizens when he came on as a second-half substitute in Sunday's 5-0 hammering of Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium.
The Belgian was brought on in the 57th minute and Man City scored their third goal of the afternoon just a minute later when Huddersfield's Ben Jackson deflected Oscar Bobb's cross into his own net, after Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez has previously made the net ripple in the first half.
Man-of-the-Match Foden then smashed in his second and City's fourth before De Bruyne marked his return with a superb assist in the 76th minute, racing down the right channel on the overlap and dinking the ball towards the back post for fellow substitute Jeremy Doku – who also returned after over month out though injury – to slot home a first-time finish.
Man City's five-star showing has helped the FA Cup holders secure a safe passage through to the fourth round, but the highlight of the afternoon for the Etihad faithful was the return of De Bruyne, who received a warm welcome for his first outing since August 11.
Guess who's back?! pic.twitter.com/WifHFPMP15
— Kevin De Bruyne (@KevinDeBruyne) January 7, 2024
Guardiola is "incredibly happy" to have De Bruyne available for selection, but the City boss "doesn't want to put pressure on Kevin's shoulders" as he continues to build up his match fitness.
"He played really good minutes, and we thought it was better in the second-half when there was more space because they defended really, really deep and the spaces were so hard to find," Guardiola said via mancity.com.
"But in the second half there were more spaces and we played with good intention, and it was really, really good.
"Now, as I said in the previous press conferences, Kevin needs to accumulate training sessions, training sessions and more training sessions – even more than games.
"Now with Newcastle (next weekend) we have another chance, then we have two weeks to have good training sessions here and in Abu Dhabi, so we are ready for the second part of the season.
"But I am incredibly happy to have him back because Kevin helps you to win games. Kevin, [Erling] Haaland, Phil... these guys win games – that's why they're so important for us.
"I'm pretty sure that in the last game Kevin felt how the people love him and how our people are in love with him, and that mutual respect will be forever."
© Reuters
Guardiola added: "Kevin is not going to solve the problems that we have, and we are not going to have victories unless we are all together.
"Kevin will help us with his talent and can help us in the things we are getting better at. He can handle the pressure, we know that, but I don't want to put pressure on Kevin's shoulders because it's not fair on him.
"He has a special quality that is difficult to find, and we have known each other a long time – we have players like Erling, Phil, Bobb, Doku and Matheus [Nunes] who love to run in behind and have players find them with passes and Kevin is exceptional at this.
"That's why first we are pleased he is back after three or four months out with injury and is fresh in his mind and played really good minutes as he showed with the quality of the assist for the fifth goal, so yeah, it's really good to have him back."
De Bruyne, who has provided more assists (30) than any other player in Europe's top-five leagues since the start of last season, will be hoping to get more minutes under his belt when Man City travel to St James' Park to face Newcastle United in the Premier League next Saturday.
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