Kevin De Bruyne looks set to hand Pep Guardiola a huge boost in the Champions League after reporting back for training on Monday morning.
He has handed faltering Manchester City a major boost by declaring himself ready to return to action after the international break.
The Belgian star has not played since victory at Arsenal on the opening weekend after injuring his right knee.
Despite being initially ruled out for at least three months, he has returned to action jut six-and-a-half weeks later.
Last month the 27-year-old said he was still ‘three, four, five weeks’ away, but could be in line to feature against Hoffenheim on Tuesday night.
De Bruyne, City’s best player this season, has been sidelined since January 27 with ankle and knee ligament damage suffered in his side’s Capital One Cup semi-final win over Everton.
But Belgium international De Bruyne, who had scored 11 goals for City when injury struck, is ready to return, to boost his side’s push for a top-four finish and Champions League success.
“My injury is going good,” said De Bruyne. “I’m training very well and I think I’m ahead of schedule.
“I’m looking to be back after the international break. I think that’s a couple of weeks ahead.
“I have been training outside for almost two-and-a-half weeks with the physios, doing like one-and-a-half hour sessions a day, plus inside.
“For the moment I’m not having any issues with any individual stuff, so I’m doing fine.
“I think it’s always frustrating for a player not to be there, but from the day it happened I switched my button and am preparing myself to do well in the next couple of games that I will be there.
“Obviously it’s been tough, because we’ve lost a few games in the league and we’re a little bit behind, but we’re there in the Champions League and looking forward to that and hopefully we can do well.”
De Bruyne is hopeful of being fit to face Paris St Germain in the first leg of City’s Champions League quarter-final tie against them in the French capital on April 6.
“I think it’s a very nice draw,” said De Bruyne. “PSG are a wonderful club. They are already champions in France and maybe that can be an advantage for us.
“But if you want to win the Champions League you have to win against the big guns and I think it’s a nice draw for us.”
De Bruyne, 24, insisted City had not yet given up on the title, despite trailing leaders Leicester by a whopping 15 points with eight games left to play for Manuel Pellegrini’s faltering side.
Guardiola’s men are in need of three points in Germany this week after losing their European opener at home to Lyon.
De Bruyne’s return to first-team duties also comes ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Both sides are level on points with 19 from their first seven games, but City have lost the last three times they have played Jurgen Klopp’s men and have not won at Anfield in over 15 years.