Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne is closing in on a return to first-team action after sitting out of Manchester City's 5-3 friendly win over Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.
De Bruyne watched on as an unused substitute as the Citizens started their pre-season preparations with an eventful victory in Tokyo, six weeks after beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final to secure a historic treble.
The 31-year-old was forced off with a grade three hamstring tear in the first half of the Champions League final, and there were fears that the playmaker would not be fit in time for the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, Guardiola has provided a reassuring update for Citizens supporters on De Bruyne's fitness and has suggested that he could feature at some stage on their pre-season tour of Asia.
Speaking to mancity.com about De Bruyne's condition after the win over Yokohama F Marinos, Guardiola said: "He feels much, much much better.
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"I don't know about Bayern Munich or the next game against Atletico [Madrid] because he has to train, but he is so close to being back."
De Bruyne has been an integral first-team player for the Citizens for a number of years, scoring 96 goals and registering 152 assists in 356 appearances, including 10 goals and 28 assists across all competitions last season.
Man City will lock horns with Bundesliga champions Bayern next Wednesday in Tokyo before travelling to Seoul to take on Atletico four days later.
Guardiola used 23 different players in the Citizens' pre-season opener, with Erling Haaland (2), John Stones, Julian Alvarez and Rodri all on the scoresheet – the former of whom came off the substitutes' bench to net his brace.
Guardiola believes that Haaland has returned to Man City duty in much better shape compared to this time last year when he linked up with the squad shortly after joining from Borussia Dortmund, before netting a remarkable 52 goals in his debut season.
"Compared to last season [Haaland] is fitter," said Guardiola. "He is much better than last season when he arrived. We would love him to be like last season.
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"He is not injured which is good but he is still away from it like everyone. It is important to take the rhythm and the principles we work with all the time.
"He knows what he has to do, we know him and in a few weeks he will be in better condition than he is now."
Man City's only signing so far this summer is midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who was handed his debut against Yokohama F Marinos, and Guardiola was pleased with the Croatian's first outing in sky blue following his £25m move from Chelsea.
"Really good. He is an exceptional player, we know it," the Catalan boss said about the 29-year-old. "It's just the first game. He has to know us and what we want. But really, really good."
Man City's first competitive game of the new season will take place at Wembley Stadium when they face Arsenal in the Community Shield on August 6, five days before their opening Premier League game away against Burnley.
Oliver Thomas
