Manchester City star sustains ankle ligament injury – Doubt over Chelsea and Manchester United fixtures | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has revealed that mainstay defensive option Josko Gvardiol has sustained an ankle ligament injury that will keep him out for a number of weeks.

The Croatia international was an unused substitute in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday afternoon, but was absent from a subsequent Champions League training session just a few days later.

As such, Josko Gvardiol was kept out of Manchester City’s Champions League trip to Copenhagen alongside his fellow Croatian star Mateo Kovacic – who is understood to be at the tail-end of recovery from a knee problem.

The former RB Leipzig defender however has a more serious problem to handle over the coming weeks, with manager Pep Guardiola discussing the latest setback to his injury-hit squad this season.

Speaking to the media after Manchester City’s important 1-3 victory over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday night, Pep Guardiola revealed the concerning extent of the problem that kept Josko Gvardiol out of action in the Danish capital.

“Josko (Gvardiol will be out for) two weeks or three weeks,” Guardiola told the media. “He has (a problem with a ligament) in his ankle.”

A period of three weeks out for Josko Gvardiol would mean he would miss Premier League matches against Chelsea (H), Brentford (H), Bournemouth (A), and Manchester United (H), as well as an FA Cup fifth round tie at Luton Town.

A period of two weeks away from the squad could put him back into contention for the clash with Erik ten Hag’s side on March 3, as well as the second-leg of the club’s UEFA Champions League last-16 against Copenhagen.

The Manchester City manager continued, “Unfortunately, now with the schedule we have we need players fit and every game and training session we lose players and that is not good.”

City appeared to cope well in the absence of three players from their travelling squad in European action this week, but the contest itself brought a further two injury concerns to the ever-growing list.

Bernardo Silva was replaced late on in the contest after ending up on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from Kevin Diks, while Jack Grealish was forced off in the first-half with a groin problem sustained off the ball.

Pep Guardiola is likely to provide a deeper update on the fitness of his squad when he addresses the media on Friday afternoon, speaking ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League clash against Chelsea.