World Cup fatigue could have caused De Bruyne injury, says Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has suggested post-World Cup fatigue could have been a factor in the knee injury that has ruled out Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne for around three months.

De Bruyne only returned to training at City last week, having had a break after helping Belgium finish third in Russia in July.

He played for the final 30 minutes last Sunday as Guardiola's side began their Premier League title defence with a 2-0 victory at Arsenal.

However, the midfielder then suffered a knee injury in training on Wednesday, and was spotted on crutches that night at the premiere of 'All Or Nothing', a documentary that features behind-the-scenes footage of City's title victory.

Guardiola expects De Bruyne to be fit again by the beginning of December, but acknowledges City will have a tough task dealing with his absence, just as they did when a knee injury ruled out left-back Benjamin Mendy for virtually the whole of last season.

"We never know. My opinion is that when you ask a lot of the players, over more than 11 months, then after he comes back, this (injury) can happen," Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

"Nobody knows, but I'm pretty sure this can influence it. When you are fresh here, fresh on your legs, it doesn't happen. Sometimes it can.

"It will be two or three months. We hope he can do as much as possible to get back and help us again.

"It will be a big miss like last season with Mendy. Last season, Kevin was outstanding and of course for him and his family, you never want this.

"It's part of the game for the players -- it's normal, they don't rest. It's a tough season, with short recovery times. They (the football authorities) say 'let's go' and we are in the competition.

"Human beings have a limit and sometimes these things happen.

"My advice to him now is to rest, take the holidays he didn't get in these two or three weeks, do it now. Then he'll start training and we'll be waiting for him with big arms."
- 'Right moment' -
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"He decided. No one at Man City, and not myself, pushed him. The player has to feel it. He decided to rest a little bit more with his wife and his little boy, and play with us."