Kevin De Bruyne is resigned to footballers being given dangerously little time off amid fears the Manchester City midfielder could suffer a burnout.
The Belgium star has only just been given the chance to recharge his batteries ahead of what will be a gruelling 2022/23 season, featuring a World Cup in the winter. De Bruyne has been allowed to skip Tuesday night's Nations League game away to Poland by manager Roberto Martinez.
This will give him roughly three weeks off before Pep Guardiola's squad reconvene for pre-season as the Premier League starts a week earlier than normal owing to the winter World Cup in Qatar. De Bruyne, who last week lost out on the Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year title to Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, played 52 times this season.
