De Bruyne ruled out until February at the earliest after surgery

Napoli star Kevin De Bruyne is expected to be unavailable until February at the earliest after undergoing surgery on his injured hamstring on Wednesday. 

De Bruyne immediately clutched his hamstring after converting a penalty during Napoli’s 3-1 win over Inter in Serie A over the weekend. The club confirmed the following day that the former Manchester City favourite had suffered a severe tear in his thigh, which required surgery to amend. 

Napoli have confirmed on Wednesday that De Bruyne has now had that operation in his native Belgium, and that he is due to begin the first stage of his rehabilitation process in Antwerp. 

“As was scheduled, Kevin De Bruyne underwent surgery in Antwerp today following a high-grade hamstring injury in his right thigh,” Napoli confirmed in a statement on the club website. 

“The surgery was perfectly successful. De Bruyne, overseen by head of the medical staff, Dr Raffaele Canonico, will continue the first part of the post-surgical phase of his rehabilitation process in Belgium.” 

As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the recovery phase after De Bruyne’s surgery could take anywhere between three to five months. 

Either way, the Belgium international could potentially return to action in February, but that is considered the best case scenario. 

It is not an ideal situation for head coach Antonio Conte, who will also lose in-form central midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa for up to a month in December and January for the Africa Cup of Nations.