Manchester City could be without star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for several months, as the Belgium international suffered a knee injury during training.
While De Bruyne came off the bench in City’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal to start the English Premier League season, he was reportedly hurt during practice on Wednesday.
‘Unfortunate Accident’
The 27-year-old showed up on crutches for the premiere of the club’s “All or Nothing” documentary Wednesday evening.
De Bruyne was expected to fly to Barcelona on Thursday to receive treatment from specialist Ramon Cugat, who has previously treated City players Benjamin Mendy and Ilkay Gundogan.
According to Manchester City, the club won’t know the full extent of the injury for a few days, as doctors need to wait for swelling to reduce before giving a final verdict.
Former agent Patrick De Koster told Belgian sports broadcaster Sporza that he had spoken to De Bruyne, and that the injury seemed to be similar to one that he suffered during the 2015-16 season, when he missed two months after hurting the knee during a League Cup victory over Everton.
“It is the same one as previously, and he felt the same way,” De Koster said. “On that occasion no ligaments were torn, and that is the main thing. If that was the case he would be out for six to nine months.”
According to De Koster, there’s nobody to blame for the injury, as it came in a non-contact situation.
“It happened in training while he was standing on his own,” De Koster told Sporza. “He wasn’t involved in a challenge. It was an unfortunate accident.”
Injury Could Add Drama to EPL Season
While those words might give hope to City fans that a worst-case scenario can be avoided, that hasn’t stopped British media from speculating about the injury. The Manchester Evening News reported that De Bruyne would likely need surgery, while the Mirror said that the injury was believed to be to De Bruyne’s lateral collateral ligament (LCL), and could keep him out for up to three months.
Even if the specifics aren’t clear yet, it seems certain that De Bruyne will miss significant time for Manchester City. That’s a huge blow to the club, as De Bruyne is not only one of the top soccer players in the world, but was named the team’s Player of the Year last season, when City won the EPL with a record-setting 100 points.
Fans got a glimpse of what De Bruyne’s absence could mean to the team during his absence two years ago. In that stretch, City won just four of the 12 matches that he sat out, with the side finishing in fourth place behind Leicester City, Arsenal, and Tottenham.
The injury hasn’t been enough to scare off bettors just yet, but it has tightened the odds between the top two EPL sides. Man City is still a 4/7 favorite to win the league according to William Hill, but Liverpool’s odds have shortened to 10/3 to win their first EPL title since the 1989-90 season. Both sides started the season with comfortable wins last weekend.
Oddsmakers largely see the EPL as a two-club race, with Chelsea (14/1), Manchester United (16/1), Tottenham (18/1) and Arsenal (33/1) only given an outside chance of competing for first place.