Newcastle United 2-0 Crystal Palace: Joe Buck match reaction
Newcastle United latest news: Manchester City have strengthened their squad ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at St James’ Park.
Gvardiol suffered a broken leg during their draw with Chelsea on Sunday and is expected to miss most, if not all, of the remainder of the season. City confirmed the Croatian’s injury with a club statement earlier this week.
That read: ‘Manchester City FC can confirm that Josko Gvardiol has suffered a tibial fracture to his right leg. The injury was sustained during the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League.
‘The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the injury and expected prognosis. Everyone at the Club wishes Josko a speedy recovery and mancity.com will bring you regular updates regarding his rehabilitation.’
And on Tuesday as Guardiola addressed the media ahead of his side’s midweek clash with Brighton in the Premier League, he confirmed that Dias would also be set for a spell on the sidelines after he too suffered an injury against Chelsea: “Hamstring,” Guardiola repliedwhen asked for an update on the Portuguese international. “Four to six weeks.”
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That timescale means Dias, who netted City’s goal in the league at St James’ Park back in November, will miss Tuesday’s first-leg and is a major doubt to feature in the second-leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 4 February.
Manchester City make EFL transfer move
Those injuries, plus doubts over John Stones’ fitness, mean that Guardiola has just Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov as fit centre-back options for their clash with the Seagulls on Wednesday night. The Citizens will then play Exeter City at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend in the FA Cup before they head to St James’ Park.
Guardiola is likely to rotate his team for the visit of the Grecians may give a full debut to defender Max Alleyne after he was recalled from a loan spell at Watford. Alleyne played 17 times in all for the Hornets, but will return to the north west and be an option for Guardiola in the coming weeks.
City were one of the most active clubs during last summer’s January transfer window as they added Omar Marmoush, Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez to their ranks for big money. Recalling Alleyne from his EFL loan spell will be a sticking plaster for Guardiola over the next few weeks, but will City go out and spend more money to help ease their defensive injury crisis? Most recently, Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi has been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium.
Guehi is out of contract at the end of the season and has plenty of admirers and whilst Palace will likely lose him for free in the summer, they can still dictate a fairly hefty fee for him this month. Guardiola, though, doesn’t anticipate lavish spending from his club: “Maybe we get something but it is completely different. We are not going to buy four or five players like last season."
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