Manchester City ace Kevin De Bruyne ready for mid-season break after stunning start to season
Pep Guardiola has given squad three days off before next game against Leicester City with De Bruyne completing 2,975 minutes for league leaders
KEVIN DE BRUYNE claims he is running on empty, despite Manchester City’s 13 point lead at the top of the Premier League.
City were held at Burnley on Saturday and the Belgian international after his 42nd game of the season for club and country admits he is desperate for a rest.
De Bruyne said: “I was feeling it from the first minute.
“You feel great for ten games, then you feel OK for ten games and then the rest you feel like s***.”
If all goes well for De Bruyne he could be involved in up to 70 games by the end of a gruelling season.
To underline his importance to Pep Guardiola, with David Silva unavailable for personal reasons, the midfielder has completed 2,975 minutes for City so far this season.
De Bruyne added: “We’ve only got 15 or 16 players available at the moment, so we need to get through it.
“We haven’t got any players left, so maybe we feel a little bit of tiredness, which makes it a little bit more difficult.”
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Guardiola has given his squad three days off and they are not back in action until Saturday evening when they host Leicester City.
De Bruyne continued: “I’m going away, it doesn’t matter where.
“January is the past, Gabriel (Jesus) is coming back, Leroy (Sane) is coming back.”
City took the lead at Turf Moor on Saturday with Danilo’s second goal of the season.
After Raheem Sterling blew an easy chance to kill the game, Johann Gudmundsson equalised to keep the Clarets seventh in the table.