Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, revealed that central defender Nathan Ake will be “long time” for the oppressed Spanish boss in another defensive injury.
Ake only lasted the first 45 minutes of the 3-1 win in Manchester City against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday evening. Together with Vitor Reis, Ruben Dias took the place of the Dutchman, which only started his second competition for the club. Both Portuguese speakers and the arrival of the January ANDUKODIR KHUSANOV will be strongly supported in the coming weeks.
John Stones and Manuel Akanji have been excluded for eight to ten weeks and robbed Guardiola of two players who can play not only in the middle, but also in the right -back until the end of April or even in May.
“Now we have a central defender for a long time, I think we will miss Nathan,” Guardiola sighed into the FA Cup quarter-finals after his team’s progress.
“I am so grateful to the club to bring Khusanov and Vitor, otherwise we have no chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season or fighting for the FA Cup. Impossible! We only have slides.”
The city was dealt with with injury setbacks during the current campaign. Rodri has been the most remarkable absence since September, which has failed with a torn ACL since September. However, the Talisman defensive midfielder, who last lost a Premier League game in February 2023, has returned to individual training.
It is unlikely that Rodri will be available before the end of the home season, but the ambitious 28-year-old is aimed at participating in the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup of this summer.
Until then, Guardiola will have to navigate with only three central defenders in the next two months – two of whom came to the club in January and have a combined age of 40 years.