Kevin De Bruyne Attends Premiere on Crutches as Stars Back City to Overcome Loss

Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne attended the premiere of his club's Amazon series on crutches on Wednesday evening, and his team-mates backed the Citizens to overcome their midfielder's impending absence. 

It was announced De Bruyne could be out for up to three months after he suffered a knee injury in training earlier on Wednesday, per MailOnline's James Ayles and James Dutton.

However, that didn't prevent the Belgian from attending the premiere of "All Or Nothing" after discovering the news, per the Guardian:

City and England full-back Kyle Walker expressed disappointment at the loss of De Bruyne but insisted they have the talent to overcome any absence:

"Kevin is a great player, and it's just unfortunate that it's happened to him in training but there's more than enough depth in the squad. We don't just rely on one player. It's a team game and whoever steps in will do well. Obviously it's a big loss, but we've got more than enough cover."

Ilkay Gundogan emphasised De Bruyne's impact on last season's run to the Premier League title: "He played an incredible season. He had so much impact on our game. He was maybe the main man for us last season. He is very important. We all hope that it is not too serious so he can get back on the training field as soon as possible."

All Or Nothing will air on Amazon Prime from Friday, and it followed the 2017-18 Premier League champions throughout their title-winning season, in which De Bruyne was a critical figure.

Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur offered an update on De Bruyne's condition on Thursday morning and acknowledged the similarities between this injury and the one he suffered in the winter of 2016:

That blow to his lateral ligament and ankle sidelined De Bruyne for two months and 12 games, per Transfermarkt, and a similar absence would be a cruel blow for the defending champions so early in the season.

Former Premier League defender Matthew Upson joined in the chorus reinforcing City's ability to win without De Bruyne, who was undoubtedly the heartbeat behind Pep Guardiola's side at times last season, via BBC 5 live Sport:

De Bruyne was named his side's Player of the Month on three occasions last term—one short of his personal record, set in 2015-16—and was also chosen as City's Player of the Season for a second time in three campaigns.

Many felt Guardiola's midfield star should also have beaten Liverpool's Mohamed Salah to the Premier League Player of the Season award.

Guardiola's decision to move Bernardo Silva back into a more central attacking midfield role now looks all the better timed given De Bruyne's injury. The Portuguese had played out on the right for most of his City tenure but has claimed a place closer to the middle following the £60 million arrival of Riyad Mahrez.

Silva scored in their 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday but will also hope to offer some of the provisions that De Bruyne has at the top level for numerous seasons in succession, per Squawka:

It's a testament to De Bruyne and his commitment to City that even after hearing such difficult injury news he was in attendance hours later to fulfil team duties.

It's behaviour such as that from a revered team figure that perhaps offers belief Guardiola's men will get by without De Bruyne, who will inevitably be missed.