Kevin de Bruyne has admitted that his hamstring was so flimsy it was like a wet kitchen towel before he was injured.
The Manchester City midfielder played with a hamstring problem for the final two months of last season before being injured in the first half of the Champions League final win over Internazionale.
And after making a comeback, he was hurt again in the Premier League opener against Burnley, lasting just 23 minutes before undergoing surgery.
The Belgium captain could be back in December and is confident this time he will last longer on his comeback.
He said: “It was a serious operation. It’s actually going very well. There will be a major scan next week and then we will know how the injury is progressing. In the end, everything is going according to schedule. I have not been given a time when I could play football again.
“It is important that I get this injury 100 per cent right. There were a lot of cracks. Those hamstrings could have torn at any time. It was - on paper - a wet kitchen towel. Ultimately, I had a major maintenance carried out after 700 matches, a bit like you do with your car.
“I had been struggling for two months, but I was able to hold on well and with the club we were able to manage everything. I was able to arrange to be there at the right time. During the week when I felt at my best, but my body said that it was enough. I still had a lot of stress in that final. Because of all those movements I may have made the crack a little bigger. But it was worth it.
“This has never happened to me before. It is a serious surgery and something like that doesn’t happen very often with a hamstring injury. But all the surgeons said an intervention was necessary.”
