JUST IN: Three important Manchester City players are out ahead of Spurs due to…
The latest Man City news as Pep Guardiola has given the latest update on his squad ahead of the FA Cup fourth round against Spurs.
Manchester City are back in FA Cup action on Friday night as they take on Tottenham in the fourth round of the competition.
City overcame Championship opposition in Huddersfield Town in the last round to book an evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola has been given a major boost with the news that Erling Haaland is closing in on a return.
The Man City boss has revealed that the clash vs Tottenham will come too soon for the Norwegian to be included in the squad. But two players in John Stones and Ederson could make their return.
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With that in mind, here is the latest injury news from the treatment room at the Etihad Stadium. Included are the dates on which they could make their comebacks.
Manuel Akanji
Injury: Leg
Possible return date: February
What we know: The centre-back limped off in the first half of the FA Cup third round clash against Huddersfield earlier this month. There has been no time-frame put on his return but it has been confirmed that he won’t be available for the FA Cup clash vs Tottenham.
Ederson
Injury: Unspecified
Possible return date: vs Tottenham (January 26)
What we know: Ederson was forced off in the opening exchanges of the Premier League clash against Newcastle United earlier this month. He is however expected to be fit to feature against Tottenham after shaking off the problem.
John Stones
Injury: Ankle
Possible return date: vs Tottenham (January 26)
What we know: The defender has missed the last four league matches after picking up the injury against Everton last month. He has however now returned to training and is expected to be available for selection against Tottenham in what is a big boost for Guardiola.
Erling Haaland
Injury: Foot
Possible return date: vs Burnley (January 31)
What we know: Haaland hasn’t played since suffering a foot injury at the start of last month. He has now returned to training. The clash against Tottenham does however come slightly too soon for the striker.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Guardiola revealed the extent of the injury: “It was a bone. We thought it was a bit less but in the end it was a little bit of a fracture of the bone and the bone is not a muscular issue that you can do a little bit (of work) and come back,” he said.
“When you have this injury it’s a question of time, people say six to eight weeks, it is six to eight weeks. It is not about how much you work or whether you go to Abu Dhabi or not.
“The bone needs time to close, to make his procedure and now it’s at the end, it will be eight weeks now, almost two months this or next weekend, in the process he feels good and now he needs time to take the rhythm and start to give him minutes when he will be fit.”
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Kalvin Phillips to West Ham undermines Premier League integrity – it shouldn’t be allowed
Kalvin Phillips is leaving Manchester City, where he’s not wanted, to play football at West Ham, but the Premier League should not allow such loan moves to happen
Kalvin Phillips is set to seal a move away from Manchester City (
And that school of thought is wrong. The move is good for Phillips, good for Manchester City, good for West Ham, good for Gareth Southgate and England… and bad for the integrity of the Premier League. The system that allows clubs to lend each other players remains a blight on a great competition. Simple as that.
Elite team sport should be about our players versus your players. Simple as that. It should not be about our players versus yours and someone else’s players. Simple as that. Certainly not someone who is supposed to be a rival, a competitor.
Considering West Ham will now be paying Phillips’ considerable wages, you have to assume David Moyes envisages the England midfielder as a key part of his team. And there is a good chance Phillips will play a central role in a big Premier League game against Liverpool at the London Stadium in late April. It might even be a decisive role, you never know.
There is also a good chance Jurgen Klopp’s team will, at that stage, be involved in a head-to-head title battle with Manchester City. And who do City entertain on the last day of the Premier League season? West Ham. And who will not be able to play in that match? Kalvin Phillips. How can that be right?
How can it be right that Moyes will be able to field a line-up that might defeat Liverpool but then is forbidden from fielding the same line-up against City? It cannot be. But even if the Premier League scrapped the rule that says a loan signing cannot play against his permanent employer, the system still stinks.
Even if West Ham take up an option to buy Phillips – and my guess is that won’t happen – the system still stinks. Obviously, West Ham are no threat to Pep Guardiola’s title challenge, but the fact City feel empowered to lend the Hammers an established England player – when only eight points ahead of them in the table – is an unnecessarily patronising reminder of their place in the pecking order.
Kalvin Phillips will be delighted with the move (
Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
In the Premier League private members’ club, everyone knows their place. If you look after the big boys, if you vote the right way in those London meetings, they might lend you a £45million player. No wonder former chief executive Richard Scudamore was a rare voice against loans between Premier League clubs.
It will be lovely to see Phillips – one of football’s nice guys – seriously involved in club football again and Southgate will be pleased one of his favourite players seems certain to get plenty of game-time ahead of Euro 2024. Phillips might help West Ham again secure European qualification while City will save a bit on salary and might, eventually, even recoup a fair chunk of their initial outlay. Everyone’s a winner then. Not quite. The integrity of the Premier League is a loser.
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