Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne will be out for at least six weeks after tearing ankle and knee ligaments in Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final against Everton, according to his representative.
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He appeared to get his studs caught in the turf and then landed on his knee as City closed in on their 4-3 aggregate triumph, which sealed a final trip to Wembley to face Liverpool.
Asked if De Bruyne could miss the rest of the season for quadruple-chasing City, Pellegrini said: “I hope not. He has been very important to us all season”.
Pellegrini, whose side was denied a penalty in the first leg, said: “Maybe it was a mistake of the referee, but I think Everton can not complain. If you tell me we are going to replace him with any player: no, because he is a very important player, but as a team we must find a way to replace him”.
If the 10-week forecast proves accurate, De Bruyne should be back in contention to feature against his former club Chelsea on April 16.
The biggest match the Belgian will definitely miss is the League Cup final against Liverpool on February 28.
But Samir Nasri, who is eight to 10 weeks away from his comeback, is likely to lose his place to young striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
Having reached the final of the League Cup this week, City remain on course to challenge for an unprecedented quadruple, yet Pellegrini is anxious not to look too far ahead.
“Kevin is sad. His dream is to always be playing football”.
And he pointed out that the Merseyside club should consider how lucky they were in both the first leg at Goodison Park and the Premier League game at the Etihad earlier this month when three refereeing decisions went the Toffees way.
Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles tried to pick De Bruyne up as he wriggled in pain.
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“It did happen quite quickly but the way things have gone in the last few games, people can’t see offsides and people can’t see the ball out of play”.
