Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has made an admission about his personal fitness in what is likely to come as a stern warning to the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.

The Belgian missed a significant chunk of last season via an injury that led to surgery on the reoccurring problem, having sustained a hamstring problem in both the UEFA Champions League final against Inter and the opening Premier League fixture of the new campaign.

Withdrawn early into the meeting with Burnley at Turf Moor on matchweek 1 of the 2023/24 season, De Bruyne and those close to him at Manchester City opted to undertake surgery on his hamstring which would rule him out until early into the new year.

However, having since returned to action, De Bruyne now looks back to his very best and fitter than ever despite now being 33 years of age. The midfielder himself also believes he is beyond the toughest phase of his recovery process.

“With last year, I felt by being out for six months that you come back and people think you’re going to be like this,” said De Bruyne.

“Obviously Newcastle (in the Premier League at St James’ Park) was great, but then I had some games where I was like, ‘Oh my body is really hurting, I’ve not played for six months, I’m not able to do this for the moment for every three days’.”

De Bruyne continued by reassuring fans that he is now back to his best, in comments that will no doubt strike fear into the hearts of the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool heading deeper into yet another top-flight title battle this season.

“I knew that after these pains of coming back, I just needed a really good Euros where I was physically top and then a good break in the summer,” said the Belgian. “And now I feel like I’m back to what I was before, so let’s hope this keeps going.”

Comments from De Bruyne regarding being back to his fittest at this stage of his career will no doubt come as a stern warning to Manchester City’s title rivals, who have already seen the reigning champions win all of their opening three matches this season.

Pep Guardiola and his players will return to top-flight action this weekend, having emerged relatively unscathed from the first international break of the new season, with only Nathan Ake coming away with an injury with the Dutchman still yet to be fully-assessed.