Kevin De Bruyne gets worrying return timeframe after Man City star suffers freak injury

Kevin De Bruyne suffered a freak injury while scoring a goal in Napoli's 3-1 win against Inter Milan and the Manchester City legend is facing five months on the side-lines.

Kevin De Bruyne is set to be out for five months after picking up a serious injury while taking a penalty. De Bruyne, 34, opened the scoring in Saturday's clash with Inter Milan at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium - but his goal came at a cost.

After whipping his shot past Inter's goalkeeper Yann Sommer, the Manchester City legend instantly grabbed his right leg and limped away from the penalty spot. De Bruyne was unable to celebrate what proved to be his final act of the game with just 37 minutes on the clock.

The Belgian watched from the subs bench with his thigh strapped up as Napoli ran out 3-1 winners to stay top of Serie A. De Bruyne will have to remain on the side-lines until 2026 after his injury proved to be serious.

"Kevin De Bruyne underwent instrumental tests at the Pineta Grande Hospital and that showed a high-grade lesion to the femoral bicep in his right thigh," Napoli said in a statement on Monday. "The player has already started the rehabilitation process."

Typically, players need five months to recover from his kind of injury. It's therefore unlikely De Bruyne will return to action until late February or early March.

Napoli boss Antonio Conte is already ruing the midfielder's absence, saying: "We know what Kevin can give us. He needs support, as I always say," the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss stated after the match.

"We can go from absurd excesses to extremes. I need to find the best solutions, knowing that this is the second year and it will be very complex for us, having to play every three days and bringing in new players."

Conte added: "When he does well, the team does well. He does poorly, the team does poorly."

De Bruyne joined Napoli this summer after his decade-long City career came to an end. The Belgium international signed a contract until 2027 and he's enjoyed a productive start to life in Naples.

With four goals and two assists to his name in 11 appearances, De Bruyne has shown that he's still a creative force. The 34-year-old has, also, shone for his country, scoring five times and providing one assist in Belgium's four World Cup qualifiers since the club season began.

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