Mourinho: De Bruyne injury not too serious; Belgian to remain on tour

Although Chelsea won comfortably against a Malaysian XI team in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday evening, the victory was dampened significantly by the sight of Kevin de Bruyne being stretchered off the pitch shortly after scoring a spectacular goal. Tape showed the Belgian landing badly and twisting both his ankle and his knee, and there was a real fear that he could have done himself some serious damage.

De Bruyne reemerged in the second half and was walking gingerly without assistance, which was a very positive sign, and now Jose Mourinho has appeared with even better news, via BBC reporter Richard Conway:

Mourinho on Kevin De Bruyne - believes knee injury is not too serious and he will stay on the tour. No ligament damage.

— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) July 21, 2013

The manager doesn't have the last word here, of course, and I'd guess de Bruyne is kept out of training for a few days a la Frank Lampard, but what could easily could have been months with a ligament problem out now sounds like days with a mild knock. Considering how brilliant de Bruyne has been for the past twelve months, this is absolutely superb news.