Manchester City creative midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, has been ruled out of action for at least ten weeks after sustaining torn ankle and knee ligaments during the latter stages of the Citizens' 3-1 (agg 4-3) win over Everton on Wednesday evening.
The talented Belgian, who came off the substitutes' bench in the second-half and managed to notch an assist and goal before sustaining the injury - courtesy of a heavy challenge by defender Ramiro Funes Mori, is definitely going to be a big miss for Manuel Pellegrini's side - considering his excellence and consistency since a big money switch from Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg last summer.
No broken bones, but severe damage
Scans on Thursday morning showed that although Kevin didn't break any bones, he severely damaged ligaments - in areas which are harder to return quickly from. His agent, Patrick de Koster, revealed the fact there will be more tests in the coming days to gauge whether the 24-year-old can still feature in the latter stages of the campaign once he completes a full recovery.
However, there have also been initial fears that due to the nature of the injury, he could miss the European Championships with his native Belgium as a result.
Kevin set to miss plenty of crucial fixtures
de Koster said Kevin is understandably "a bit sad" that amongst the games he'll miss, includes the Capital One Cup final against Liverpool and crucial Champions League fixtures, but also admitted the main priority is helping him return to full fitness with no aggravation of the injuries sustained.
de Bruyne will remain in Manchester for his recovery stages as his girlfriend, Michelle Lacroix, is expecting their first child together shortly - but there is realistically no reason why he cannot feature before the end of the Premier League campaign in May.
"I've known Kevin since he was 15 - he has never had such a bad injury before. But, we hope he can come back quickly to help City."