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City Xtra
·14 February 2024
Mateo Kovacic injury update: Pep Guardiola reveals player ‘in the process’ of Manchester City return
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Yahoo sportsCity Xtra
·14 February 2024
Manchester City appear set to welcome back Mateo Kovacic to first-team training this week following a knee problem that has kept him out of two matches.
The Croatia international has played a significant role for the club during the first-half of the season, and even more so during the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, but has missed contests for City in the Premier League and Champions League.
Mateo Kovacic was absent from City’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday afternoon, before being left out of the travelling squad that made the trip to Denmark on Monday for Tuesday’s 1-3 victory over FC Copenhagen in the last-16 of Europe’s premier competition.
However, while details are now emerging over the nature of Mateo Kovacic’s latest injury problem, it appears as though the 29-year-old is on the verge of making his return to match fitness, according to the latest updates.
Speaking to the media after Manchester City’s 11th successive victory in all competitions, coming in the UEFA Champions League against FC Copenhagen, Pep Guardiola delivered an update on the fitness and injury sustained by Mateo Kovacic in recent days.
“(Mateo) Kova is in the process to come back,” Guardiola revealed, and at the perfect time given the latest run of setbacks sustained by the team across the squad.
The Manchester City manager continued on his Croatian midfielder, “Thursday or Friday he will train with us and we will see how he feels.”
In further reporting from MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, it is revealed that Kovacic is understood to have sustained a knee problem in Manchester City training and those at the club were fearing that he was facing ‘weeks out’.
It is detailed that Pep Guardiola is ‘unsure’ as to how Kovacic will react to a return to City training later this week, and will ‘keep a watchful eye’ on his progress before a decision is made on his availability for the weekend’s contest.
Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening in a game that could put them within one win of becoming outright Premier League leaders, with a game in hand against Brentford coming just days later.
City are currently on a run of 11 successive wins across all competitions, with an FA Cup fifth round tie and huge contests in the Premier League next on the horizon for Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering squad.
Tuesday night saw the club take home a significant advantage from the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie at Copenhagen, as goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden recorded a 1-3 victory at Parken.