Pep Guardiola has shared an injury update concerning Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji.
During the first half of last weekend’s 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup, Akanji was forced off the pitch through injury after being caught by a bad challenge from Alex Matos.
With the Citizens now returning to Premier League action with an away clash against Newcastle United, Guardiola has shared some details on the centre-back’s current fitness situation.
Guardiola drops Akanji injury update
Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of today’s match at St. James’ Park, Guardiola had this to say about Akanji and when he could likely be returning to full fitness.
He said: “He had an action against Huddersfield and he will be out for a few weeks. It’s not a big blow but until the end of the month. I don’t know if he will be ready for Spurs or Burnley.”
This season has seen the Switzerland international feature in 26 matches for City across all competitions, finding himself in the starting XI on 23 occasions in total, which highlights how important he is for the team and Guardiola.
Across his 15 Premier League games in this current campaign, the 28-year-old has racked up the second-highest total of clearances (39) in the City squad and the third-highest for passes into the final third of the pitch (114).
This shows how effective the defender is on the pitch in and out of possession and why not having him available for potentially the rest of the month will be a blow for the Citizens.
With John Stones also out injured, Guardiola will have to hope that his other defensive options such as Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol can avoid picking up any injuries for the time being.
