Nedum Onuoha has suggested that it could take Kevin De Bruyne some time before he gets back to his best form at Manchester City this season.
The midfielder has been out of action since August with a hamstring injury that required him to have surgery and go through an extensive rehabilitation programme.
In his recent press conference, Pep Guardiola revealed that the Belgian has started running on the pitch but isn’t sure if he’ll be ready to participate in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup tournament in Saudi Arabia.
With De Bruyne saying that he’ll hopefully be back in action at some point in January, one pundit and former City player has shared his thoughts what on the best way could be for the Belgian to get back into the swing of things.
Onuoha says De Bruyne could be rusty after hamstring injury
Speaking in a recent video published on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Onuoha had this to say when asked if he thinks City should rush De Bruyne back into the team once he regains his fitness.
He said: “Absolutely not. The guy is still doing his rehab. Some people say he was rushed back at the start of this season, and he had to have surgery and they kept him out for four, five months.
“You can’t rush him back, you’ve got to make sure that when he comes back this time he’s going to be back for a longer period of time. Given the fact, as I say, it’s a hamstring injury which required surgery, you can’t rush these things.
“I know the guy is pining for a through ball or a De Bruyne banger from 20 yards out, but this is medicine, this is what it’s going to be and when he’s ready I’m sure he’ll come back in and I’m sure he’ll be very rusty to start with as well.”
Since arriving at the club back in 2015 in a deal worth £55m, the midfielder has made 358 appearances for City across all competitions, scoring 96 goals and delivering 153 assists along the way.
Given the seriousness of the injury and the recovery it has needed, we agree with Onuoha that rushing De Bruyne back into action could be a dangerous thing for the club to do.
Therefore, even though it may take him a while to get back to the form every City supporter knows he’s capable of, it would be best to not risk him potentially aggravating the issue and being out for even longer.
