De Bruyne out for 6 weeks, says agent

During stoppage time he appeared to catch his studs in the turf and twist his knee as he was challenged by Everton defender Ramiro Funes Mori.

Replays showed the ball had crossed the dead ball line before Raheem Sterling crossed for Kevin de Bruyne to make the tie 3-3 on aggregate.

“He is with the doctor, it could be the medial ligament”.

“It’s one less important player but we must continue with optimism and give responsibility to the squad”.

“I would like to apologise to Kevin De Bruyne for my reaction to his injury”, Robles said on his official Twitter account.

His knee was due to be assessed on Thursday but City manager Manuel Pellegrini said he was “optimistic” the Belgian would not miss the rest of the season.

Initial medical reports have indicated the problem may not be related to the cruciate ligament, but de Bruyne’s agent, Patrick de Koster, said his client would likely be out for six weeks.

City will now meet Liverpool in February’s Capital One Cup final on February 28.

His efforts helped to set up a trip to Wembley for City next month, when Liverpool await them, but cruelly De Bruyne is set to miss that occasion along with important Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup games.

Kevin has already scored 12 goals for City this season apart from several assists.

Phil Jagielka labelled referee Martin Atkinson “a little bit arrogant” in his attitude as the controversy over Everton’s Capital One Cup semi-final loss at Manchester City raged on.

Kevin De Bruyne could return from an expected 10-week lay-off against his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on April 16. In some moments this season we could not play with David Silva and Sergio Agüero, now we are going to play without Kevin.

“When you look at the two games with had with Manchester City – we played eye-to-eye and we got very close to getting to a really high level”.

“I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery”.