Pep Guardiola has expressed heightened concern over Kevin De Bruyne's thigh injury, stating that Manchester City could face difficulties if key players do not recover soon. De Bruyne, along with five other teammates, will miss the Carabao Cup fourth-round match against Tottenham on Wednesday night. The Belgian midfielder has not played since sustaining an injury during the Champions League match against Intern on September 18th. Guardiola had initially anticipated De Bruyne's return by now, but despite resuming training, the player remains sidelined.
When asked about De Bruyne's potential return, Guardiola said, 'I would like to tell you, especially I would like to know it, but I don't know right now. He feels that he can train, but not to go to that level that we need in competition. When you kick the ball or something, he still has pain and he doesn't feel [right]. Kevin has to feel good to express his huge talent that he has. He's feeling better, but not the best.'
Guardiola is also without Kyle Walker, Jérémy Doku, Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb, and the newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who is out for the season. 'For sure, if these guys don't come back as quick as possible, we'll struggle, because we cannot sustain with just 14, 15 players for the season,' the manager said. 'We need the players to come back.'
Given the current injury situation and a packed schedule, Guardiola is expected to rely on players from City's under-21s against Spurs. 'We have a problem that we have a lot of injured players and I cannot play like I would imagine,' he said. 'I don't want to put much pressure on the young players to be in this stage against this opponent, for the way they play. That's why I have to make a mix for the players, for split minutes.'
Guardiola also praised the coaching of Rúben Amorim, who is set to become the next Manchester United manager. City defeated Sporting 5-0 in Lisbon and drew 0-0 in the return of their Champions League last-16 tie in 2022. 'All I can talk about is the experience of playing twice against Rúben's Sporting Lisbon team and the [performance] was really good,' he said. 'I spoke with Matheus Nunes, and he was his player, and he speaks highly about him. And look this season, he is unbeaten and winning all the games in the Portuguese League and the Champions League, the same points as us.'
Guardiola dismissed concerns about Amorim's age, stating, 'Why is it a problem? I started at Barcelona, 37 years old, coming into the fourth division. So knowledge is knowledge. If you are able, it doesn't matter. For that reason, Lamine Yamal could not play football at 17 years old [for Barcelona], right? So what's important is talent. If you are good, it doesn't matter the age.'
He also mentioned that Erik ten Hag would be welcome to visit City's training ground if he wishes to do so before taking another job after his dismissal by United. 'Always we are open. But I think he knows exactly what we do. I think it's not going to happen, but I know his agent a little bit, so the relationship is there.'
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