Pep Guardiola speaks out on Kevin De Bruyne after Gary Lineker hinted at secret rift

Pep Guardiola has insisted Kevin De Bruyne is 'close' to returning to Manchester City's starting XI, despite Gary Lineker hinting at a secret rift between the pair.

De Bruyne hasn't started a game for City since their Champions League opener against Inter Milan in mid-September, having picked up an injury during the 0-0 draw.

The talismanic midfielder eventually returned to action against Sporting in early November but has only been afforded off-the-bench cameos since - none of which have lasted more than 30 minutes.

De Bruyne had addressed his concerns ahead of City's clash with Feyenoord last week, claiming the initial injury had got worse in the days and weeks following the Inter clash.

But given City currently find themselves in the midst of a seven-game winless run, De Bruyne's continued absence from the starting XI has raised eyebrows.

Commenting on the Belgian's current fitness status ahead of Wednesday's clash with Nottingham Forest, Guardiola said: "He is closer and even, even better. The last few days he's even better."

Guardiola refused to comment on whether he'd be included in City's starting line-up for the Forest fixture.

It comes after speculation surrounding Guardiola and De Bruyne's relationship was fuelled by Lineker, who theorised there was a secret rift.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Lineker said: "De Bruyne came on again [vs Liverpool] with not long to go when the game was pretty much done. Yeah, he nearly got a goal because of [Virgil] van Dijk's error, but is there something going on there, do you think? Because he's been coming on for five or 10 minutes, what, for about a month now?

"You would imagine he's getting fitter, even though I saw both of them - Pep Guardiola and De Bruyne - make interesting statements in the week, where it seems like all's not well between those two? I don't know. I've got no inside information whatsoever."

There are plenty of questions surrounding De Bruyne's future at City still to be answered, not least where the 33-year-old will be playing his football next season.

De Bruyne is out of contract at the end of the campaign and revealed last week that no talks had yet been held.

When quizzed on if he's planning on sitting down with the club's hierarchy, De Bruyne replied: "I honestly don't know."

"At the start of the season, I knew talks would happen but then the thing [injury] happened. It was meant to be a couple of days and then it was eight, nine weeks. I put it all to the side."

City go in search of their first win since late October when they face Forest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening.