Pep reveals City playmaker De Bruyne faces 'a few months out'

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Kevin De Bruyne faces a “few months out” with a hamstring injury, with Manchester City now having to decide whether he will undergo surgery.

The midfielder, 32, was forced off in the first half of June’s Champions League final triumph against Inter Milan and did not play a single minute of pre-season.

De Bruyne returned as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield shootout loss to Arsenal and captained the side against Burnley in Friday’s Premier League opener.

But the Belgium playmaker only lasted 23 minutes at Turf Moor, where seemingly out of nothing he signalled to the bench that he had felt something.

Guardiola confirmed the issue related to the same hamstring and would see him miss “a few months” but it is worse than first feared and a decision has to be made over surgery.

The City boss said: "It's a serious injury. We have to decide surgery or not surgery but a few months out.”