Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that Pep Guardiola's training regime is tough as the new Manchester City manager gets his players ready for the start of the Premier League campaign.
De Bruyne, 25, was one of several players given an extended period off in the summer and missed the club's preseason tour to China as he recuperated after the European Championship.
And, now he's back, he says Guardiola's training sessions have been rigorous since he rejoined the first-team squad with the boss wanting his side to play a high-tempo pressing game.
"It's intense," he told reporters of Guardiola's training regime. "Obviously it's a little bit different for me because I came in four weeks later than the other ones.
"I worked a little bit in the holiday and we didn't have that much time off, so I'm working as hard as possible to be fit and for the moment I feel okay.
"We will be ready for next week. It's different from [Sunday]. We had a hard training week with double sessions so obviously some people are a little bit tired but now it's back to the real business, so we will see how we are and I'm confident we will do fine."
The Belgian midfielder returned to training last week and made his first appearance under Guardiola as a second half substitute in Sunday's 3-2 friendly defeat to Arsenal in Sweden.
De Bruyne says the players are still adapting to Guardiola's demands and it showed in the defeat to the Gunners in Gothenburg with City making too many errors. But he is confident that his teammates will soon get to grips with the Catalan coach's playing style.
"It's totally different, obviously," he said. "You see a lot of new things coming. When you are later [arriving] there's a whole new thing but I think I am getting most of it.
"I need some more playing time to know it perfectly well. But this is normal when you have lot of new things -- new coach and new players -- but we have time and it will come."