Belgium boss makes bold Kevin De Bruyne prediction with major Manchester City consequence | OneFootball

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has been praised by Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco.

The 32-year-old scored during Belgium’s 2-0 win over Romania at the European Championship on Saturday, as De Bruyne’s 80th minute goal helped Belgium bounce back from a shock loss to Slovakia during their opening Euro’s match.

The Manchester City midfielder captained Belgium for the win in Cologne, and is expected to wear the armband again on Wednesday evening, when they face Ukraine in a crucial concluding Group E clash in Stuttgart.

Belgium require a win over Ukraine to ensure a place in the last-16 of the tournament, with Domenico Tedesco’s side looking to avoid another early exit, after Belgium dramatically crashed out of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

De Bruyne’s Manchester City teammate Jeremy Doku is also part of the Belgium squad in Germany, alongside the Sky Blues’ head of recovery Tom O’Malley, who is on secondment from the Etihad Stadium.

The midfielder will be crucial to Belgium’s hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the European Championship, with De Bruyne having been directly involved in 24 goals for club and country since returning from hamstring surgery in January.

Belgium were without De Bruyne for a number of pre-tournament friendlies due to the midfielder’s recovery, however Belgium boss Tedesco has hailed the impact of his return for the European Championship.

“I’ve known Kevin (De Bruyne) for about a year now, I met him in the first camp in March,” he said.

“He wasn’t available for us for a full year, I speak to many people that know him so well and they’ve never seen him so happy and so positive. It’s important we get him on the pitch in this kind of mood. We have an extreme amount of potential and the last game against Ukraine will be difficult.”

De Bruyne’s impressive form could help Manchester City’s aspirations of winning a fifth successive Premier League title next season, permitting the 32-year-old rejects interest from Saudi Arabia and chooses to remain at the Etihad Stadium for a 10th season.