The Man City games Mateo Kovacic will miss and Pep Guardiola’s replacement options

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Manchester City were hoping that the international break would be an opportunity for the club to see their injury situation improve, but that has not necessarily been the case.

While Pep Guardiola was able to reveal in his pre-Tottenham press conference that John Stones and Manuel Akanji are both training well and Nathan Ake is returning to training, there was a new issue he has to contend with.

That’s because Mateo Kovacic has returned from international duty with Croatia carrying an injury which Guardiola said will keep him out for a ‘while’. Pressed further, the manager said that Kovacic will miss ‘three weeks or a month’. This comes after City fans were concerned that the midfielder was substituted off at half-time of Croatia’s 1-1 draw with Portugal.

With Rodri already ruled out for the season, this is an area of the pitch Guardiola can ill-afford to see another injury in, especially given the big games that the club have coming up.

The Manchester City games Mateo Kovacic is set to miss

With City needing to get back to winning ways following their four-match losing streak across all competitions, the fixture list has thrown up some huge matches including a huge December clash.

Tottenham are next up this weekend, but on the way in next month are Premier League matches against leaders Liverpool, Manchester United and top four hopefuls Aston Villa.

Should Kovacic return in three weeks, the Manchester derby could be a potential match for him to target, otherwise he will hope to return for Aston Villa on December 21, which is the club’s final match before the festive period.

On top of that, City have Champions League fixtures against Feyenoord (Tuesday, November 26) and Juventus (Wednesday, December 11) both of which Kovacic looks set to miss.

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What are Guardiola’s options to replace Kovacic?

Kovacic has been City’s most obvious like-for-like replacement for Rodri, which has been evident by his playing time this season, with the 30-year-old playing in all 11 of the club’s Premier League matches so far this term.

In terms of replacements, Guardiola has a number of options, although several are not recognised central midfielders.

Ilkay Gundogan is the most likely alternative in the middle of the park in Kovacic’s position, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden or Bernardo Silva able to play there, but it would not be their natural role. Matheus Nunes has struggled with his fitness in recent weeks, but he can also play centrally.

In terms of more defensive options, Rico Lewis, John Stones or Manuel Akanji could be drafted in from the back line, while Guardiola also has the option of looking to his academy for further options.

Nico O’Reilly has made his first-team debut this season and James McAtee also his senior experience.

Given the amount of games coming up over the next month and the injury situation Guardiola has been dealing with, it would not be a surprise to see Guardiola rely on a number of solutions to cover for Kovacic’s absence.