Pep bemoans limits of ‘human being’ De Bruyne

Pep Guardiola has been talking about the injury suffered by Kevin de Bruyne, hinting that a short summer break might have contributed to his absence.

The Manchester City midfielder has been ruled out for around three months with an LCL injury after returning to club duty following his appearance in the World Cup semi-finals.

De Bruyne has played more minutes in 2018 than almost all his Premier League contemporaries.

“Like the doctor said, he will be out two and half-three months,” said Guardiola.

“Hopefully in that time he can do as well as possible to get back and help us again.

“He will be a big miss like last season was with Benjamin Mendy – last season Kevin was outstanding and of course you never want it, it is part of the game.

“Sometimes it is normal – the players don’t rest, they come back and have a short recovery and we say ‘come on, let’s go’ – sometimes human beings have a limit.”

The good news for City fans is that David Silva could be fit to face Huddersfield Town on Sunday, with Guardiola saying: “Last week he was not fit but in the last two or three days he has trained well.”