Just when things were looking great for Claudio Echeverri, he has suffered an ill-timed setback that has left Manchester City fans gutted.
Manchester City are in the midst of their Club World Cup campaign and have already pocketed millions in prize money.
Victories over Wydad AC and Al Ain have secured Pep Guardiola’s side a spot in the last 16, too, while Thursday’s clash against Juventus will determine who finishes Group G on top.
City were dominant and clinical in the 6-0 smashing of Al Ain, with Ilkay Gundogan and new signing Rayan Cherki scoring some lovely goals.
The pick of the bunch, however, came from Claudio Echeverri, who scored his first City goal with a delightful free-kick.
Echeverri impressed throughout his first start for the club with a sharp performance but was taken off at half-time due to an ankle injury.
The Argentine youngster initially played and scored, through the pain but it now turns out to be a possible problem.
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Man City fans react as Claudio Echeverri suffers ankle injury
Fear has been struck into the hearts of City fans as Echeverri’s condition does not look promising.
Echeverri was spotted walking on crutches at City’s training complex following the Al Ain victory and had to wear a protective boot.
According to ESPN journalist Rob Sawson, City’s medical staff are now assessing the injury to determine just how serious it is.
City fans are gutted to see a young player suffer a potential setback just as he was getting his chance to impress and have wished him a quick recovery.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one fan wrote: “Get well soon, young Messi”, while another echoed the sentiment by adding: “Get well soon, Claudio,” with a blue love heart emoji.
“He was finally making a mark in the team as well… sad,” one fan lamented, while another wrote: “This is not good, this was his opportunity to prove himself.”
Man City might have been hit with another Oscar Bobb blow
If there’s one thing worse than losing a player in pre-season, it’s losing them in a brand new summer tournament before pre-season even begins.
City had terrible luck with injuries throughout 2024-25, which certainly contributed to their massively underwhelming campaign.
The tone was set the week before the Premier League kicked off when Oscar Bobb broke his leg in training.
Bobb had just shone in the Community Shield win over Manchester United and looked destined to play a major role in Guardiola’s side.
Instead, he missed the vast majority of the season as the injury proved tougher to recover from than expected. He played just 14 minutes in the end.
The bad luck might have just repeated itself if Echeverri’s injury is a severe one.
Though the starlet isn’t as firmly in Guardiola’s plans as Bobb was a year ago – with Nedum Onuoha still believing Bobb will make a bigger impact – he showed he has the potential to force himself into them and a serious injury would come as yet another blow.
