List of All Articles with Tag 'c'

The disconsolate trudge is becoming a disconcertingly familiar sight. Kevin De Bruyne has limped out of grander games than the curtain raiser to a Premier League. He has made an early exit from bigger occasions this summer. His Champions League final, like his evening in Burnley, came to a premature conclusion. A focus on De Bruyne’s body can concentrate on the remarkable right foot he uses to unlock defences, to pass and cross with an ability most can only envy. It may switch to his increasingly fragile hamstrings. For De Bruyne, Inter Milan may be bracketed alongside Burnley in the memory. His last two starts, two months apart, ended with him hamstrung. “He was injured again, unfortunately. A problem in the same position, he said to me as in the final of the Champions League,” rued Pep Guardiola. “It depends on the magnitude of the injury but it will be a few weeks out.” There will be no De Bruyne against Sevilla in the European Super Cup or against Newcastle in the first major test of Manchester City’s defence of their Premier League title. He could sit out the start of their Champions League campaign. A summer sandwiched by injuries suggests De Bruyne was rushed back. He had said after the Community Shield he was way ahead of schedule; he had targeted the Super Cup for his comeback. “It’s a pity because he had recovered well,” Guardiola said. “Maybe it was my mistake [to pick him] but if he is injured after 15-20 minutes it is not something wrong, when it is 65 or 70 it is the fatigue of the muscle. We have to talk with the doctors and him.” His plan, he had said, was to give the Belgian 50 or 55 minutes, rather than the cameo he had at Wembley. Which, as that culminated in the penalty he slammed against the underside of the bar in the shootout, has completed an ill-fated start to the season. “He is disappointed but he is strong and will be back,” added Guardiola. Yet for how long? De Bruyne may be increasingly injury prone. For a player who has never looked like a natural athlete, a red-faced figure who can seem a throwback to earlier eras, he has shown great durability. He has won 99 caps for Belgium – he would have brought up a century in the summer but for injury – and this was the 587th game of his club career. His 32nd birthday only came in June but to play almost 700 matches by that stage means he has plenty of miles on the clock. Or miles on the hamstring. He revealed after the Champions League final he had played for two months with the risk it could snap. By the time he is fit again, he will have spent the vast majority of six months with a hamstring problem of some description. It has prompted fears it will be a constant for the rest of his career. A reunion with City’s other talismanic Belgian could illustrate it. Vincent Kompany, a colleague for club and country, still made huge contributions in the latter years of his time at the Etihad Stadium but did not make 30 appearances in any of the last four campaigns. He played his final game at 33. De Bruyne should show greater longevity but his appearances will have to be rationed. All of which could create a problem, even in a squad as gifted as City’s. De Bruyne is a unique talent – “what a player he is,” gushed Kompany – and, as his total of 29 assists last season shows, reaches extraordinary levels of creativity. He is Erling Haaland’s supplier-in-chief and the shifting dynamics in the City squad has rendered his qualities perhaps still more significant. The departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan have stripped them of two of the likeliest providers of goals and assists amid the band of attacking midfielders and wingers. Mateo Kovacic won’t deliver as many as the German; should Lucas Paqueta arrive, another able technician won’t replicate Mahrez’s contribution in the final third. De Bruyne is irreplaceable in various respects: no one is a like-for-like alternative and, as he ventures further into his thirties, City will have to ponder the question of who his long-term successor is. In the short term, they can console themselves with memories of Phil Foden’s impact when he came on for De Bruyne in the Champions League final and that, when he was sidelined for much of the 2018-19 campaign, they did a domestic treble. But now each injury comes with the sense that it will not be the last, but that De Bruyne is nearer the end. A man who has illuminated many a game may miss more and more. Read More Kevin De Bruyne faces ‘a few weeks out’ after suffering another hamstring injury Pep Guardiola reveals extent of Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury Erling Haaland at the double as Manchester City kick off new campaign in style

Chelsea have agreed a British record deal of £115m with Brighton for midfielder Moises Caicedo, sources have confirmed to 90min.

The US Coast Guard is searching for four divers who went missing south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, on Sunday, authorities said.

Erik ten Hag has told Harry Maguire to go to West Ham if he is not confident enough to fight for his place at Old Trafford. Manchester United have accepted a £30m bid from the Hammers for their former captain, who has dropped out of the team as Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez have become the first-choice centre-back partnership. But while Ten Hag insisted he wants to keep Maguire as he hopes to have two players for every spot in the side, he believes the England international should go if he does not believe he can get back into the side. “He has to fight for his place,” the United manager said. “He has the ability to be a top-class centre-back and he is the best for England so why shouldn’t he be the best for us? But he has to prove it. When he is not confident enough to fight then he has to go, then he has to make a decision, but I’m happy with him. “We don’t have a squad with 11 players, and the last year proved definitely we need all the players. That means you need some high-level players who are maybe not starting but that can change so there is an internal competition, everyone has to fight for his place. “Every player when they were good they will get their games but no one can play all the games and finally you find out what is the best team. In the squad now all the positions are double and every player has the perspective to fight for his place. You have to show with your contribution it’s the best team performance. It is up to the players if they have game time or less.” Ten Hag also suggested he could keep Dean Henderson. United have been in talks with Nottingham Forest about the goalkeeper but with third-choice Tom Heaton out for several weeks, United may be reluctant to let Henderson leave. Ten Hag added: “He was always in my mind so I think we have a strong keeper group with Onana, Henderson and Heaton.”

The Agnelli family’s Exor NV bought a minority stake in Dutch medical technology company Koninklijke Philips NV. Exor,

NFL Rumors: Jonathan Taylor blinks first, plans return to Colts campThis summer, the NFL world saw the relationship between Jonathan Taylor and the Colts dissolve before their eyes. While running backs around the league were lowballed, Taylor wanted a new deal from Indianapolis. Things got ugly on...

The Yankees suffered a brutal collapse on Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers' former Packers teammate, David Bakhtiari, threw some good old-fashioned shade at the veteran quarterback this offseason.What's new at Packers training camp? Another question might be: What isn't?The relationship between Aaron Rodgers and left tackle David Bakhti...

Things were thrilling at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Liverpool and Chelsea leveling up at 1-1 to start the new campaign.

The 2023 FIBA World Cup starts in less than two weeks. Teams are playing warm-up games and NBA players are flashing their skills. Here are five NBA players who had strong performances this week.The FIBA World Cup starts on Aug. 25 and so far, most of the news coverage about the tournament has be...

An anonymous Mets player spilled the tea on Justin Verlander's and Max Scherzer's brief time in New York. Talk about pitcher drama.It wasn't enough for the Mets to lose to their rivals by a football scoreline this past weekend. No, the New York Mets just had to sink one level lowe...

Angel Hernandez recently made his 2023 debut behind the plate and his performance has left baseball fans disappointed but not surprised.Angel Hernandez is back behind the plate, much to the dismay of many fans all over the world. Over his tenure as a major league umpire, he's widely recogni...