Former Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy has insisted that the club are capable of coping with the loss of Kevin De Bruyne to injury.

The Belgian playmaker was arguably City's standout player in their record-breaking title-winning season last term, but he is expected to miss a large chunk of the 2018-19 campaign after picking up a knee ligament injury in training.

The exact severity of the injury has not yet been confirmed, but Bellamy is confident that City have the strength in depth to make up for the loss of De Bruyne.

"It's sound crazy but they can cope without him," he told Sky Sports News.

"You want to see De Bruyne playing but with the quality City have, the way the play and especially with the manager they have, if they need to tweak the system to suit the players who are available the best coach I've seen in England - Pep Guardiola - can.

"It's a big loss for Manchester City but with the quality of players they have and the manager, I can see them being able to pick up the points without him."

De Bruyne scored 12 goals and created 21 more across all competitions last season.