I dont know what player can currently replace him on that position with the similar quality. He has been the brains behind a lot of attacks of Man City in the previous season and without him this is gonna cause problems. We seen already against Sevilla that there were many problems in getting that direct ball for the goal.
The influence of Kevin De Bruyne is very important, and this is why when a team depends on one player, it will be difficult for them to find a replacement because the advantage of Kevin De Bruyne is that it is very difficult to be replaced by other players, which finally made Manchester City's match yesterday not very good. We wish Kevin De Bruyne a speedy recovery and hope he starts giving his best contribution to Manchester City again.Without Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City will find it difficult to win in every match to come.
Guordiola knew how important Kevin De Bruyne in the team that is why he is on the verge of signing Lucas Paquetá from West Ham as a temporary replacement for KDB, his impact on field particularly in term of creating assist and his accurate shots on goals are some of his qualities, would Kovacic play that attacking midfield role perfectly in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne? or possibly when Lucas Paquetá is signed he may take up the role, however I don't think any of those two players can make as much impact as Kevin De Bruyne nevertheless I trust Guordiola he will surely do the needful to put the team in a good shape by winning Man City matches even without injured Kevin De Bruyne.