Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has insisted that his focus is firmly on winning trophies with his manager, Pep Guardiola’s side after World Cup.
De Bruyne and Belgium were knocked out in the group stage in Qatar, having previously suggested that the squad could struggle at the tournament. Despite this, the Blues ace has promised more glory at the Etihad following Pep Guardiola’s new contract with the club.
The Spanish signed a two-year extension during the World Cup and De Bruyne has suggested that Guardiola’s commitment to City will help in their quest for a fifth Premier League title.
City currently sit second in the top-flight table -five points behind league-leaders Arsenal ahead of the resumption of the domestic campaign.
“It was great news to hear while we were away,” De Bruyne told the Daily Mail. “Pep has done so much for this football club and I am sure he will continue doing that.
“We want to win every single game and every competition that we play in and Pep’s impact on helping us try to achieve that is huge.”
While De Bruyne is set to be included in the squad to face off against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Thursday night, he has admitted that the quick turnaround following the World Cup has been ‘strange’.
He added: “We will have to adapt to the situation. When I returned to training last week there were few senior players, so it is a strange situation. We will obviously be trying to win the game against a tough side.
“It has obviously been different, but we just have to try to be ready. It is a different sort of challenge physically and mentally, but I am sure we will be ready for the second half of the season. We will do everything we can to try and get the rhythm back to ensure we put in good performances.”
The 31-year-old also insisted that he is focused on enjoying a productive second half of the season following Belgium’s disappointing campaign in Qatar.
“It was obviously a disappointing World Cup campaign for us,” he said, adding that, “We have had some successful major tournaments in previous years and unfortunately this was not one of them. Now I am back with City and my focus is on continuing the strong first half of the season that we had to give us the best possible chance of winning trophies at the end of the season.”
