Kevin de Bruyne has been allowed to leave the Belgium national team camp a few days early so he can begin his long-awaited and much-needed summer vacation.

The Red Devils are due to play Poland on Tuesday in their final game of the current round of UEFA Nations League fixtures, but the Manchester City star has been given permission to sit the game out after what has been a long and gruelling season.

Since the pandemic-disrupted 2019/20 season resumed in August 2020 with Project Restart, De Bruyne has barely stopped to catch his breath.

The resumption of the league flowed seamlessly into Nations League fixtures and the start of the 2020/21 season, a 40-game campaign that saw the midfielder suffer several facial fractures in the Champions League final.

He battled past that to represent his country at EURO 2020 just a few weeks later, where he suffered an ankle injury that severely curtailed his pre-season and caused him to miss the opening month of City’s 2021/22 campaign.