Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne could be out for three months after suffering a serious knee injury in training on Wednesday.
There are fears that De Bruyne has torn a lateral ligament in his right knee, which will be a huge blow to manager Pep Guardiola.
The 27-year-old Belgium midfielder, who will have further tests to ascertain the extent of the damage, was pictured on Wednesday night with a full-length brace on his right leg and using crutches.
Despite being injured earlier in the day, he attended the premiere of the Amazon Prime TV documentary Manchester City: All Or Nothing at The Printworks in Manchester city centre.
De Bruyne could miss a dozen Premier League games – including clashes with City’s main title rivals Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United – and as many as four Champions League group games.
Kyle Walker, the City and England defender, said: ‘Kevin is a great player and it’s just unfortunate that it’s happened to him in training, but there’s more than enough depth in the squad.
‘We don’t just rely on one player. It’s a team game and whoever steps in will do well. Obviously, it’s a big loss but we’ve got more than enough cover.’
De Bruyne suffered a knee injury in 2016 after twisting awkwardly when challenging Everton’s Ramiro Funes Mori. On that occasion he was out for nine weeks.
