Kevin De Bruyne finally made a return to training this week as Manchester City arrived in Saudi Arabia for the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Belgian’s presence back amongst his teammates drew huge amounts of excitement from a handful of Manchester City fans on social media.
Some may have assumed that the 32-year-old would now be available for selection once again, although he is not even on the bench as Manchester City take on Urawa Red Diamonds.
So, why is Kevin De Bruyne not on the bench for Manchester City? Let’s take a look…
Why Kevin De Bruyne is not on the bench for Manchester City
Well, there has not been a setback if that’s what you were worried about.
Instead, it was always the plan to keep De Bruyne out of the action and only allow him to partake in training – according to Joe Bray of the Manchester Evening News.
He wrote on X (previously known as Twitter): “Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne have all arrived with the City squad for the CWC semi-final vs Urawa. Doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll feature, though.”
After the starting XI was released, Bray then added: “None of them on the bench as expected. City had to register the three youngsters (Max Alleyne, Mahamadou Susoho and Micah Hamilton) last night in place of any injured players, suggesting it was never the plan for KDB etc to play today.”
Manchester City No.17 is not far away
While it would have been nice to see De Bruyne take part in the FIFA Club World Cup, there isn’t long until he returns.
The Belgian was in attendance at the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he told reporters that he expects to be back “close after the New Year, if everything goes well” – strongly suggesting a comeback may occur around the start of January.
Regardless of whether De Bruyne features at the FIFA Club World Cup or not, he should still receive a medal if Manchester City win the tournament after being named in the 23-man squad.
