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Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has saluted Liverpool's transfer business - mere hours before suffering a major setback.

Reports out of Manchester have revealed De Bruyne suffered a serious knee injury during training on Wednesday morning.

The Belgium international left City's training ground on crutches and will undergo scans in Manchester and Barcelona in the coming days.

While cruciate ligament damage already appears to have been ruled out, it is thought to instead be a problem similar to the one that sidelined him for nine weeks during his debut season at City in 2016-17.

That timescale would rule him out of Liverpool's Anfield meeting with City on October 7, although initial assessments are hopeful De Bruyne could be available before then.

Earlier on Wednesday, De Bruyne admitted to being impressed with Liverpool's summer recruitment.

The Reds spent more than £170million on snapping up Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.

(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

"The main focus is on us," said De Bruyne, speaking to the BBC. "The other teams are always going to push us, Liverpool did what we did last year. They have spent a lot of money but wisely.

"They needed some additions and they have got them in the right places. They saw that they had to up the level to come closer to us and we are trying to maintain what we have done last year. It will be a good battle between the top sides.

"The top six is always challenging. I don't make a difference between any team. Liverpool spent the most this year, but last year it was us and Manchester United.

"Now there are other teams in the Premier League who spend more than us, they have to do what they have to do to be better."