Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City’s star, has stated that he knew his hamstring was on the verge of snapping before tearing it early in the season.

De Bruyne made his first FA Cup game in nearly five months, coming on as a substitute in a 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Town, after undergoing surgery in August to repair a ruptured hamstring. He quickly got his first assist of the season, setting up Jeremy Doku. The Belgian expressed his delight at returning to action following the game, admitting it was just a matter of time before he seriously hurt his hamstring, which he had worsened before the Champions League final.

“I had three hamstring [injuries] in a row, but they were nowhere near the same location. “I had so much scar tissue, it could snap at any time,” De Bruyne told reporters. “People felt I returned too quickly, but when you train three weeks in a row without incident, it’s great. I played about 40 minutes against Arsenal, but after Burnley, it was time to move on.”

City performed admirably without De Bruyne, winning their first six Premier League games of the season before experiencing a small drop in form. But they are now clicking into gear again, and his comeback comes just as they are set to challenge for the Premier League crown and repeat their phenomenal success from last season. De Bruyne described how difficult it was to watch City games while he was healing.

“No. “I can watch whatever football I want, and I’ve seen every game, but I don’t enjoy it,” De Bruyne remarked. “They’ve obviously been fine.” There will be ups and downs after last year’s season, but we performed well in the majority of games, with the exception of Villa and possibly Wolves. We are there alongside the other teams. If you’re here with all the teams, you won’t be far away. We are where we need to be, but we must endeavor to maintain that.”

De Bruyne has 30 assists in all competitions since the start of last season, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues combined. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is second with 24.

De Bruyne is unlikely to start City’s next encounter away to Newcastle because Pep Guardiola wants to avoid a recurrence of the injury, but he might come off the bench. He and City will next embark on a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi, where he will be able to regain match sharpness ahead of their home game against Burnley on January 31.