Kevin De Bruyne sends warning to Man City title rivals as he makes fitness admission

Kevin De Bruyne said his game-changing cameo against Newcastle United was as much down to willpower as ability or tactics.

The Manchester City midfielder made his Premier League return on Saturday after a five-month layout due to a hamstring injury. The champions had trailed 2-1 at St James’ Park before his introduction, but a De Bruyne masterclass saw him change the course of the game and hand City all three points.

Five minutes after coming on, De Bruyne casually placed the ball into the back of the net from outside the box, before his exquisite injury-time pass picked out Oscar Bobb at the back post, who managed to control, cut inside and tap in the winner.

“It was crazy,” De Bruyne reflected in his post-match interview with TNT Sports. "I missed this. I had a big injury and I needed the time. I enjoyed myself and I worked hard and to come into this stadium, this environment and [being] behind… it [the comeback] was more willpower than anything.

“It was more willpower than sharpness,” he continued. “I know I’m not able to do that for 90 minutes at the moment. I know I can put in a shift, 20/25 minutes at full pace and I feel it in my lungs with the cold. It can’t be any better than this, can it?”

The dramatic win means City head into the winter break just two points behind leaders Liverpool. After an indifferent first half of the campaign, things are looking optimistic for Pep Guardiola’s side, who have De Bruyne and Jermey Doku back, should have a returning Erling Haaland by the end of January, have seen Phil Foden shine in a recent central role, and will hope to build momentum from the victory at St James’ Park.

“I think to come here is always a difficult ground. I think everyone was really happy for me obviously with everything that happened to me this year,” De Bruyne admitted. “We want to try and compete again for the league and we are up there with the other teams. To win here, at St James’ Park against a really good Newcastle, is a tough game.

“Obviously the start is good and I know I need to keep doing what I do, work hard and get sharpness and hopefully we can get the upwards trajectory,” he added, when asked about his own impact after such a long absence.

“I don’t know what to expect and I have not experienced this [a long absence] in 14 years that I have been playing football. Like I said, I worked really hard and tried to change a couple of things because I had the time and being able to change things, when you play all the time it’s very difficult to do. I found a couple of things and I hope I can maintain that.”

City will now jet off to Abu Dhabi for a warm weather training camp, and are next in action on 31 January when they host Burnley in the Premier League.