Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne has returned to training ahead of the visit of Arsenal on March 11.
The Belgian has been one of the top performers in the Premier League this season but suffered an injury in the Carabao Cup final as City beat Aston Villa 2-1.
He missed out on the Manchester derby as Manchester United secured a 2-0 win over City at Old Trafford prior to Mikel Arteta's mid-week return as manager to the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal will need every advantage to go in their favour if they are to beat the reigning Premier League champions despite Guardiola losing to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of their showdown.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was asked about De Bruyne's situation following reports that he had returned to training.
"Let me think," he said. "Laporte, Kevin training last two days. I don't know if they will be able to play tomorrow.
"We'll have another session tomorrow and the rest will be okay."
In his post-match press conference after losing to United, Guardiola had sough to lower expectations over whether De Bruyne could return to face Arsenal.
"He feels better but he doesn't feel 100%," he said. "And we don’t take risks.
"We have three important games in the Premier League, but of course the position that we have, Madrid and Newcastle are the real important games for us."
De Bruyne has scored eight goals and set up 16 assists this season.
He has won the Premier League on two occasions under Guardiola, and although he suffered a number of injuries in the 2018/19 season he was part of the squad that lifted a domestic treble including the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and the league title.
