Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has been given the all-clear to rejoin the Chelsea squad for the second leg of their pre-season tour in the USA after suffering an injury scare.
Club medics had originally feared that De Bruyne may have damaged the meniscus following a collision during the friendly with a Malaysian XI in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, so didn’t take any chances and sent him back to London to be fully assessed.
The news is a welcome relief for the Chelsea faithful as the 22-year-old has been tipped for big things and has earned his chance to prove himself at the club after a successful spell out at Werder Bremen last season, so many are looking forward to seeing what he can do in a blue shirt and the early signs in pre-season are positive.
De Bruyne was one of the most impressive players for our first friendly against the Singha All-Stars and then again versus a Malaysian XI. In the second game he created the opener for Bertrand Traore to finish and scored the second after capitalising on a Romelu Lukaku flick-on to hammer the ball past the keeper before colliding with the defender and having to come off the field on a stretcher.
Jose Mourinho said that everyone feared the worst at the time:
“When he was on the floor and asking for a change, everybody on the bench, we thought the worst.
“The first assessment by the doctor was that it was not the ligaments for sure and if it is something in the meniscus, then it has to be a very small injury.
“So we believe it is not an important injury and hopefully it isn’t because the kid is a fantastic player and is showing to you match after match and showing to me in training that he is going to be a key man on the pitch.”
But the player was optimistic and reassured fans whilst thanking them for their support via Twitter:
“Knee and ankle feeling ok for the moment. Always stay positive. Waiting for tomorrow. Then we will know more. Thanks for all the messages.”
Mourinho’s side play their final game of the Asia tour in Jakarta today against the BNI Indonesia All-Stars. Kick-off is at 14:30.
I want Eva to touch my knee like that :3