Manchester City hit with major one-month injury blow in midfield to add to Rodri woes | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola’s Rodri-induced woes in the centre of midfield have been made worse this week following the emergence of a new problem in the middle of the park.

Manchester City return to action on Saturday evening with a home clash in the Premier League against Tottenham, as Ange Postecoglou’s side travel from North London hoping to add to their success against the champions of England last month.

It was Spurs who inflicted Manchester City’s first of four consecutive defeats across competitions, with a 2-1 win in the Carabao Cup fourth round at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Manchester City have a number of key returning stars this weekend, but their issues in midfield alongside the long-term problem sustained by Ballon d’Or winner Rodri have been made even worse this week.

Following his involvement with Croatia during their UEFA Nations League fixtures over the last two weeks, Mateo Kovacic has returned to Manchester City with an injury that is likely to keep him out for a minimum of three weeks.

That is according to Pep Guardiola speaking during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of the club’s meeting with Tottenham in the Premier League, who confirmed that Kovacic’s lay-off could be anywhere between “three weeks” to “one month”.

That problem now leaves Manchester City without any traditional defensive midfielders available to Pep Guardiola, who is likely to turn to the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Rico Lewis, and John Stones to fill the role left behind by Kovacic and Rodri.

On the subject of the Spaniard, Pep Guardiola issued a short update on his recovery process, revealing that the Ballon d’Or champion is now in Manchester ahead of his presentation of his historic achievement in front of the Etihad Stadium crowd on Saturday evening.

Guardiola also revealed that the 28-year-old is likely to return to Manchester on a full-time basis in January, having spent the early stages of his recovery from surgery in his home city of Madrid.

“I think in January he will come back to make a recovery,” Guardiola said on Friday afternoon. “But I think, from what I hear from the doctors, it’s going really, really well, and his mood is good and it’s nice to see him.”

The Manchester City manager continued, “He’s unique in our club, one player who has played here has got this amazing, amazing award and shares it with our people. “It’s so nice, I’m looking forward to seeing him.”