Sportsmail’s Jack Gaughan has reported that Ruben Dias injured his thigh during the World Cup, and this injury could keep him out of action for Man City for a month.
When Ruben Dias got injured during the World Cup
The report further states that Dias first felt the strain during his nation’s 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland in the Round of 16 clash in Qatar.
However, the Manchester City defender continued staying on the pitch, completing the full 90 minutes for Portugal.
Just four days later, an injured Ruben Dias started for his country once again in their 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the quarter-final.
Ever since Portugal crashed out of the competition, Dias has not trained with Pep Guardiola’s side even once.
How many games could Dias miss?
- December 28: Leeds United vs Manchester City (Premier League)
- December 31: Manchester City vs Everton (Premier League)
- January 5: Chelsea vs Manchester City (Premier League)
- January 8: Manchester vs Chelsea (FA Cup)
- January 10: Southampton vs Manchester City (EFL Cup quarter-final)
- January 14: Manchester City vs Manchester United (Premier League)
- January 19: Tottenham vs Manchester City (Premier League)
- January 22: Manchester City vs Wolves (Premier League)
On the surface, it could be a worrying total of 8 matches in all competitions.
How big of a loss is the injured star to Manchester City?
On the face of it, it is not a crisis for Manchester City, as John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji can all deputise in the injured Ruben Dias’ absence.
However, both Stones and Laporte are known to be quite injury prone, while Ake and Akanji are simply not at Dias’ level, which could be a worry for the Sky Blues.
The hope remains that the Portuguese international recovers from his injured state as fast as possible, as City have all eyes on winning it all this campaign.
For now though, the Etihad faithful should not be losing their minds over the unavailable Dias.
Especially when the “unstoppable” Kevin De Bruyne, as per Pep Guardiola is in the form he is.
