Kevin De Bruyne has been rested by the Belgian national team so he can overcome an injury to face Arsenal at the end of the month.

On Thursday morning, news broke that Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne hadn’t been included in Belgium’s squad for the international break due to injury.

Kristof Terreur reported that the midfielder has a minor groin injury, whilst Sky Sports reported that it was a “slight” injury and the player isn’t expected to be out for long.

For any optimistic Arsenal fans hoping that De Bruyne might at least miss the Gunners’ Premier League clash against City on March 31st, Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco quickly dashed those hopes.

“He’s been playing with a minor groin issue in the last games,” Tedesco said, before adding: “It’s better to give him time to recover well at City and have him ready for the Euros.”

That certainly makes it sound like the Belgium absence is purely to give De Bruyne a rest, and not because he’s been forced out.

If the 32-year-old was already playing with the injury before this two-week break, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to start against Arsenal after having some time off.

Jack Grealish (England) and Ederson (Brazil) are also set to miss out on the international break through injury, though both of them look a little more likely to miss the Arsenal clash as well.

On March 11th, Ederson’s was touted to be out for between three and four weeks, which would mean an earliest return on April 1st. The Arsenal game is a day earlier than that.

You still wouldn’t bet against the goalkeeper making an even earlier comeback to play in the title clash, but it’s certainly more dubious than De Bruyne’s situation.