Rob DawsonCorrespondent
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said he is still feeling the effects of COVID-19 nearly a month after first testing positive for the virus.
De Bruyne returned a positive test on Nov. 17, the day after Belgium’s World Cup qualifier against Wales. He returned to training following 10 days in isolation and managed to complete 90 minutes for City against Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access
– Grealish clicking in has Man City look ominous
De Bruyne scored twice in the 7-0 win including a 25-yard rocket in the second half but afterwards the 30-year-old said he is yet to return to full health.
“I still feel sometimes that my body is still adapting because sometimes I do two or three sprints and feel it, having had COVID,” he said.
“I was pretty sick for four days. I think it was like flu but I’ve never had that so can’t say for sure.
“But I had a temperature, especially in the evenings, and lost my smell and taste. After five days it was getting better but needed more time for the taste and the smell but now I’m okay.”
De Bruyne has endured a difficult six months after being forced off early during May’s Champions League final defeat to Chelsea in May after a collision with Antonio Rudiger and then suffering ankle ligament damage playing for Belgium at Euro 2020.
He has been limited to just 12 starts this season but there is hope his problems with injury and illness are now behind him.
“Obviously this season is what it is,” he said. “There is nothing I can do about it, I’ve been kicked in the face, kicked in my ankle and I had COVID afterwards.
“It’s part of football. After COVID, I came back and trained as hard as I can. With the schedule it is not that easy but I’m doing all-right, I played in two games and came in as a sub in two so I’m doing what I need to do.
“The ankle was the worst because playing and having pain every day is not something that you want to have but after a while it got better and better. Then I got COVID.
“I was 10 days on my own so I was running up the walls. I can’t sit still anyway. I got away from my family as I didn’t think we had it as a family and I didn’t want to give it to my wife and kids. It was pretty hard to see them through a glass door.”
