Pep Guardiola has confirmed a double injury blow to Manchester City’s centre-backs, with both Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol now ruled out for at least a month.
Manchester City suffered a double injury setback during the weekend game against Chelsea, with both Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol leaving the field of play early.
City quickly confirmed that Gvardiol had suffered a tibial fracture to his right leg, with surgery scheduled for later this week. They added that assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the injury and expected prognosis.
City fans then had to wait until Pep Guardiola’s press conference on Tuesday for an update on Dias, and it turned out to be more bad news.
“[Ruben] Dias, hamstring for four to six weeks,” Guardiola revealed. “[John] Stones, no idea. Not ready for the next games. [Nathan] Ake fine. [Josko] Gvardiol out for a long time.”
In terms of City’s remaining options, Guardiola explained: “Khusa (Abdukodir Khusanov) and Nathan are back as central defenders, Max [Alleyne] came back from the loan. I appreciate what Watford have done for the young lad.”
It’s certainly a blow, with City facing a minimum of four weeks without Dias or Gvardiol. Some reporters have suggested Gvardiol could even be out for the season, which isn’t too outlandish for a player facing surgery on a broken leg with five months left of the current campaign.
But given it’s Manchester City, there’s every chance the club will now splash tens of millions on an experienced replacement in the remainder of the January window.
The club have already been strongly linked with Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, and it remains to be seen if there’s any significant progress on that move in the coming days.