Kevin De Bruyne
Ilkay Gundogan will have his shoulder checked by Manchester City medical staff on Monday as Pep Guardiola waits for a number of other players to regain full fitness.
Pep Guardiola said: “It was something in his shoulder. We will see what happens tomorrow with the doctor. it looks like something happened. Kevin played a few minutes but Kevin didn’t do one full session because of his ankle. Kyle [Walker] and John [Stones] and Ayme[ric Laporte] came back really really well and Gabriel [Jesus] as well but the guys who have been here since the beginning for us deserve to play.In general they made a good pre season, they made a good game in the second half but the reality is we concede few, not much but we lost the last games 1-0 and 1-0 so that’s why we have to continue working and day by day the players feel better.”
The manager revealed after the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham that Kevin De Bruyne has not yet had a full training session with the rest of the squad – despite returning nearly two weeks ago and coming on for the final 10 minutes in North London. Jack Grealish played in the middle in his absence and impressed, although the return to full strength cannot come soon enough for Guardiola. City have almost a full week before they take on Norwich at the Etihad next Saturday, and the manager will hope that a week of bringing players up to speed will start with some good news on the knock that Gundogan picked up in the closing stages of the opening Premier League game.
