Kevin de Bruyne needs a rest, that much is obvious.
His most recent performances for Manchester City suggested as much, leggy and lacking in the technical quality and accuracy with the ball De Bruyne is known for. It was a similar situation at the World Cup, his sub-par performances were just one contributing factor in what was a disastrous group stage campaign for Belgium.
After three games the side ranked second in the world is out, the hopes of a golden generation taking one last shot at glory extinguished with a goalless draw against Croatia. That result - while not the worst on paper - followed an underserved win against Canada and a thoroughly deserved 0-2 defeat to Morocco.
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In all three games, the Belgian players were slow and ponderous, often looking like they lacked imagination and energy. De Bruyne was no different, but with elimination comes a chance to recharge and go again.
Since domestic and international football resumed in the summer of 2020 after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, De Bruyne has barely had a break.
Despite suffering a serious facial injury in the 2021 Champions League final he soldiered on and represented his nation at that summer's European Championship. At that tournament, he suffered an ankle injury that wrecked his pre-season and meant he didn't reach top form for City until three months into the new campaign.
At the tail end of last season, he was involved in Belgium's Nations League commitments - he publicly complained about the scheduling of the tournament - before finally enjoying a couple of weeks off before reporting to pre-season training with City.
Plenty of players have expressed their annoyance with the winter scheduling of this World Cup, but De Bruyne is the most high-profile player who has performed way below his usual high standards.
Before the tournament, he went as far as to say he and his teammates were "too old" to win the World Cup, and it looks like he was right. He'll now fly back to Manchester for a rest before returning to training in the week leading up to City's Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool on 22nd December.
While he won't have much time to rest, he'll have more than his City teammates who are entering the World Cup last-16. With City fighting in four competitions and two postponed Premier League fixtures to squeeze into the schedule, Pep Guardiola is going to need his players to dig deep to find the energy and quality required.
As one of City's most - if not the - most important player, an extra week or so of rest for De Bruyne will be no bad thing for him and the club, even if his heart takes a little longer to recover.
You can vote for Kevin De Bruyne to win the Fans' Footballer of the Year 2022 Award - cast your vote below or click here.
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