Injured De Bruyne out for 3 months
City defender Walker feels avid learner Foden will fill Belgian midfielder’s boots admirably
>> MANCHESTER: Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne, a pivotal figure in Manchester City’s title-winning campaign, will be out of action for three months because of a knee injury, the club said yesterday.
The 27-year-old midfielder — who scored eight goals and provided 16 assists as City romped to the title last season — will not have to undergo surgery on the injury which he suffered in training on Wednesday.
But his recovery will mean he misses the Premier League clash with the team many think will be City’s main title rivals, Liverpool, on Oct 7 and the Manchester Derby on Nov 11 as well as part of the Champions League group stage.
“Manchester City can confirm Kevin De Bruyne has suffered a lateral collateral ligament [LCL] lesion in his right knee,” the club said in a statement. “No surgery is required, and the midfielder is expected to be out for around three months.”
De Bruyne, who enjoyed a superb World Cup as Belgium reached the semi-finals, suffered a similar injury in a league game with Everton in January 2016 although that kept him out of the team for two months. He came on for a cameo role of half an hour in the 2-0 opening Premier League victory over Arsenal.
While the loss of such a player would be a blow to most clubs, City have more depth than most thanks to their Abu Dhabi owners spending generously on players.
The likes of Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan or even the home grown teenage talent Phil Foden are capable of filling the vacuum.
Earlier, City defender Kyle Walker believes 18-year-old Foden has the talent and attitude to step up in the absence of injured De Bruyne.
Foden starred as City comfortably beat Chelsea 2-0 to win the Community Shield earlier this month and is believed to be on the brink of a call-up to the England squad after leading his country to win the U17 World Cup last year. “Phil’s got a great attitude, a great player, and more importantly, he’s a great lad,” said Walker.
“He wants to learn, he’s keen to listen. I’ve met a lot of young players throughout my career now who’ve kind of got a chip on their shoulder but he’s definitely not one of them.
“He’s one of those who wants to learn and I think he shows that in his performances — he’s keen, he’s energetic, he’s keeping people on their toes really.”
Walker was part of the England squad who reached the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in 28 years in Russia this summer.
Foden also made the trip as a fan to support his teammates, and Walker hailed his hunger to one day star himself on the international stage.
“Obviously Phil has been very fortunate in his first season around the squad to pick up a Premier League medal. Not many kids can say that they’ve done that. But he’s not rested on that,” added Walker. “He could have come back from the summer, not really trained hard, gone and partied or whatever — which young kids do nowadays — but he’s not done that.
“You can see he’s been working hard, he was even out in Russia so that’s how much he loves the game of football.”