Pep Guardiola confirms Kevin De Bruyne could return for Manchester City against Everton

Kevin De Bruyne may make a return to action when his side Manchester City host Everton on Saturday (15 October). Pep Guardiola confirmed the news in a pre-game press conference, revealing that Bacary Sagna is the only played completely ruled out of a crucial week that will see the Premier League leaders host the Toffees four days before a Champions League trip to Barcelona.

The Belgium international, along with Vincent Kompany and Fabian Delph, missed the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur prior to the international break after suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-1 victory over Swansea City. However, the former Barcelona boss has now said KDB is one of a number of injured players who could face Everton.

"All of the injured players are much, much, much better. Some will play tomorrow, some will not. They all trained well in the last few days. I don't know if they'll play for 90 minutes. We'll have to think about it this afternoon," Guardiola said.

However, the manager refused to reveal how the Nou Camp encounter against Barcelona will impact on his Everton starting XI: "I never prioritise games. The next one is always the most important game. I'll see how the international players are – some recover quickly, some need more time."

The news is a big boost for Manchester City fans, as it indicates both Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero are available for this week's games despite recent injury worries. The former pulled out of the England squad after suffering an injury against Spurs, while the latter had an injury scare while training with his national side, Argentina.

One blow for Guardiola is the injury Sagna picked up during France's 4-1 victory over Bulgaria. He will miss a number of key matches and is set to be sidelined for three weeks.

Guardiola confirmed City will miss the former Arsenal defender, but hopes Pablo Zabaleta can step up during his absence, having started in the defeat to Tottenham.

"It's a pity because Bacary didn't play the last two games. I said ten games ago, he played a lot of games last season because Pablo was injured. Then Bacary got to the final of Euro 2016 and he only trained pre-season for two weeks. Then he went away for two weeks with France and got injured so now three weeks without him."