Manchester City defender likely to be ruled out for the rest of the season with injury | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola may be handed yet another huge injury blow with new reports indicating a serious injury sustained by Manchester City centre-back, Manuel Akanji.

The Swiss defender has endured a problematic season on the fitness and injury front alongside the rest of his Manchester City defensive teammates, struggling to find consistency when it comes to runs of appearances in Pep Guardiola’s set-up.

The Manchester City manager has often credited injuries to his defensive line as being the reason behind the lengthy poor run of form that the club endured across November and December, derailing their entire season in the Premier League in particular.

At one phase of that two-month spell, Guardiola was forced to field a Manchester City line-up without one fit first-choice central defender, opening a space for Jahmai Simpson-Pusey to excel from the Academy system into the first-team squad.

And while the Premier League champions may have felt as though the worst of their problems were coming to an end for the second-half of the season, matters have only been made worse through the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off first-leg.

According to the reporting of reliable Manchester City information source ‘FPLMaineRoad’ on X, central defender Manuel Akanji will be ruled out for the ‘next few months’ through injury and is likely to miss the rest of the ongoing season.

The 29-year-old was forced out of the action earlier this week having sustained a muscular problem in the first-half of Manchester City’s eventual 2-3 home defeat to La Liga giants Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium.

Coming on in the former Borussia Dortmund man’s place was young full-back Rico Lewis, taking on Vinicius Jr from the right-back position previously held by Akanji during the first-half of a fast-paced encounter.

Pep Guardiola was unable to offer too much in the way of a clear view on Akanji’s latest injury problem when he spoke to the media after Tuesday night’s contest, telling on the media on the defender and Jack Grealish’s problems, “I don’t know yet.”

He continued, “But if they have gone out for muscular reasons, maybe they will not be there (against Real Madrid in the second-leg next week).”

Manuel Akanji’s absence from the Manchester City squad for the remainder of the season will likely open up a new opportunity for some of the January transfer window recruits to come in and impress, particularly Abdukodir Khusanov.

The Uzbek international is believed to be viewed by Pep Guardiola as a potential solution in the right-back role, which was largely vacated by former club captain Kyle Walker through his demand to leave the club in January, joining AC Milan on loan until the summer.