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Kevin De Bruyne has been given the green light to move on to the next stage of his rehabilitation from the knee injury he suffered in August, according to reports.

The Belgium international tore a knee ligament on August 15 and missed Manchester City's games against Huddersfield, Wolves and Newcastle.

The initial prognosis suggested that the 27-year-old would be sidelined for two to three months, but De Bruyne could be in line for an earlier return.

Pep Guardiola sent his prized asset to his trusted Barcelona-based doctor, Ramon Cugat, who oversaw Benjamin Mendy's recovery from the cruciate knee ligament injury that kept him out of the majority of last season.

Guardiola has previously described Cugat as "the best doctor in the world".

And the word from Barcelona is that De Bruyne is now ready to step up his rehabilitation programme.

The Premier League winner was seen at City's 2-1 win against Newcastle walking without crutches, with his knee in a brace to avoid sideways movement.

The last time the City star was absent for a prolonged period saw De Bruyne miss 12 City games with a knee injury between January and March in 2016. The former Chelsea man has missed just four games through injury since then.

City's return to winning ways was confirmed by a 30-yard wonder strike from Kyle Walker , after Raheem Sterling' s first-half strike was cancelled out by DeAndre Yedlin.

Walker had not scored for just under three years before securing the three points against Rafa Benitez's side.