Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender Manuel Akanji will undergo surgery, after picking up an adductor injury.
The Swiss center-back experienced discomfort in his groin after blocking a shot from Vinicius Jr towards the end of the first half and did not return for the second half in City’s 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
He was replaced by Rico Lewis, with Pep Guardiola revealing that Akanji requires surgery for an issue that will sideline him for eight to ten weeks.
“Surgery on Saturday, 8-10 weeks out. Adductor is broken. We wish the best recovery for Manu because the effort he has put in this season has been unbelievable,” Guardiola said.
The City boss added, “He and Nathan played under difficult conditions to help the team due to a shortage of players in those positions. In the end, the body said enough is enough.”
Alongside the unavailability of Akanji, there are concerns over Jack Grealish and Nico Gonzalez.
On Grealish, Guardiola added: “It’s not as severe as what Manu has done but I don’t think he will be ready for tomorrow. We will assess in the next few hours.”
When quizzed about January signing Nico Gonzalez, the Spanish tactician said: “It wasn’t a difficult start, he was just injured. A difficult start is when you played bad, but that was not how he played.”
“He had a little pain and still for Madrid he wasn’t fully fit. Day by day he’s getting better and with Jack we will assess in a few hours.”