Fresh Kevin De Bruyne injury update emerges ahead of Manchester City return for Arsenal clash

A new report has issued an update around the fitness of Kevin De Bruyne, ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League showdown against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola has endured a run of difficult updates concerning his first-team squad over the course of the recent international break, with a number of his defensive players in particular sustaining fitness concerns while on duty with their respective nations.

Both Kyle Walker and John Stones were forced into early substitutions against Brazil and Belgium respectively while representing England over the last few days, while the latter is yet to undergo any diagnosis on a problem believed to be around his adductor.

Elsewhere and Manuel Akanji was also withdrawn early from the Switzerland squad due to a knock, while Portuguese midfielder Matheus Nunes sustained a similar problem and both players will be assessed upon their returns to the City Football Academy.

But in some much-needed positive news, a fresh development around Kevin De Bruyne will give Manchester City fans plenty to be excited about ahead of the crunch return to domestic action this weekend.

That is according to the information of ESPN’s Rob Dawson, who reports that Manchester City are ‘optimistic’ that midfield star Kevin De Bruyne will be fit for Sunday afternoon’s Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

It is further detailed that there is ‘growing hope’ that Kevin De Bruyne will be available for selection against Arsenal after coming through a training session with the club’s Under-23s on Tuesday.

While medical staff will continue to monitor the midfielder, ESPN report that he is expected to take part when Manchester City’s first-team training resumes on Thursday ahead of the weekend’s contest.

Despite spending more than half of the ongoing season sidelined through recovery from hamstring surgery, Kevin De Bruyne has since become arguably the stand-out performer for Pep Guardiola’s side following the turn of the year.

Across the Belgian’s 14 appearances across all competitions, the 32-year-old has scored two goals and provided a staggering 13 assists – four of which came in one game as part of Manchester City’s 2-6 win against Luton in the FA Cup fifth round.

City face a hugely challenging run of fixtures across the course of late March and early April, and should they wish to retain their hopes of winning back-to-back Trebles, Kevin De Bruyne’s ability to perform and sustain top-level fitness will be crucial.