Manchester City have been handed an injury scare ahead of their Premier League clash with Arsenal after Kevin De Bruyne was forced to head home early from international duty.
De Bruyne has been ruled out of Belgium’s Nations League clash with Iceland on Wednesday and is returning to Manchester to recover.
He had started for his country in their 2-1 defeat to England on Sunday and was withdrawn after 73 minutes.
While Belgium manager Roberto Martinez claimed ater the game he was not injured and just ‘felt something’, he is not fit enough to face Iceland.
‘Kevin De Bruyne has returned to his club. He couldn’t be fit enough to play against Iceland,’ a statement from Belgium’s Twitter account read.
Martinez had said after the defeat to England: ‘I would not say that Kevin is injured. He said he felt something.
‘It is too early to know what he has, but he did not feel 100%. It was rather a precautionary change.’
He now must be considered a doubt for City’s crunch Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola already has several issues to contend with in his squad.
Gabriel Jesus also picked up a knock against Wolves last month and a muscle injury has kept Oleksandr Zinchenko sidelined all season.
