Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has thrown down the gauntlet to Kevin de Bruyne.

The Belgian missed the first two months of the season due to knee injury.

Asked if De Bruyne may no longer be guaranteed his place, Guardiola said: “Maybe, yeah. It's quite possible, everyone knows it's ­possible to play or not possible.

“In the end, we judge the players for who they are, but they are there to perform.

“There are times when team-mates are in better condition and, in football, what you have done in the past – you have to do again in ­future.

“We try to control the players. He played the last two, at Everton a few minutes. I want him to play as much as possible. He went out for five ­minutes and he was incredible.

“I want him to sustain that for a long time. When you're out a long time, I don't want him playing game, game, game."