During his prolonged absence from competitive football, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne found a different role as a taxi driver for his children.
The Belgian international, who spent almost five months on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury suffered on the opening day of the Premier League season, marked his return with an assist in City’s 5-0 victory over Huddersfield in the FA Cup.
After the game, De Bruyne shared that he dedicated a significant portion of his time off to chauffeuring his children.
“To be honest, when you have three kids between three and seven, not a lot; I’m basically a taxi driver. I enjoyed it,” De Bruyne told reporters. “I think they enjoyed that Daddy could watch the games and now it will be harder for the Missus and everyone to work around the programme.”
De Bruyne admitted that the time away may have been good for him on a mental level after spending so long competing at the highest level twice a week. He added, “It’s not like I needed a break but I took it to turn a disadvantage into an advantage.
When I reflect on my career, playing the last 10 years nonstop with a short break, maybe it was good for me to reset a little bit in a way and take care of myself when it is not really possible during the year. I hoped I could work hard and come back in a good way and I feel that I’m doing that but obviously I need to progress.”
But he said he did not enjoy being away from his teammates. “It’s everything. When you’re training for an injury, you’re always alone,” De Bruyne added. “You can train with other physios or people in the gym but you’re not really with the team so a lot of times you’re working outside these hours so it’s nice to be with the team competing again. You compete against yourself when you’re training.”
In an effort to prevent a recurrence of the injury, De Bruyne is not expected to start City’s upcoming away game against Newcastle. However, he may make a cameo appearance from the bench.
Following that, the team will travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp, where he will be able to regain match fitness in advance of their January 31 home game against Burnley.