Manchester City medical staff will welcome back one of Pep Guardiola’s first-team midfielders from international duty following an injury sustained over the last week.
It is the latest in a growing list of players succumbing to injury problems over the last few months, despite Pep Guardiola remaining confident that two of such names could return to action for the club in the coming days.
Oscar Bobb and Rodri will remain as Manchester City’s longest-term absentees, with the Norwegian fracturing a bone in his leg prior to the start of the new Premier League season, whilst the Spaniard undertook surgery on anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus damage.
As for Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake, both players are expected to begin work back on the grass with the wider first-team squad in the coming days, having reached the tail-end of their groin and hamstring recovery processes respectively.
But a new name to contend with within the Manchester City medical department emerges during the international break, and a problem that appears to have been picked up on the training ground.
As highlighted by the Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski, Jacob Wright has now returned to Manchester City for further treatment after picking up an injury with England’s Under-20 squad over the last week.
The 19-year-old did not feature in the young Three Lions’ 2-1 win over Italy last week, before it was later confirmed over the weekend by England that Jacob Wright would not remain with the squad for their second game of the ongoing international break.
Wright revealed over the course of the international break that he was prevented from leaving Manchester City during the summer following instruction from manager Pep Guardiola, who insisted on the midfielder remaining as part of his first-team squad.
“There was obviously temptation (to leave Manchester City on loan) – there always is going to be – but when the manager and staff around him want you to stay and be around that first team there’s not much of a choice,” Wright told reporters last week.
“There’s no temptation any longer when you get the information that they want you to stay and be around it because they see you as someone that could be around it.
“The temptation went out the window as soon as I heard that: I was staying for the season.”
Wright’s exemplary start to the new season with Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad in particular saw him nominated for Premier League 2’s Player of the Month award for September, having recorded three assists in three matches within the division.
