**Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed that midfielder Mateo Kovacic is closing in on a return**.
The Croatia international has played just five minutes in the Premier League this season after undergoing surgery on an achilles injury last summer, [before having another procedure done](https://hayters.com/guardiola-confirms-man-city-star-has-undergone-surgery/).
“Kova is already, you know, starting to be on the pitch training,” Guardiola said. “Before the Club World Cup he decided to make a surgery, to be fit this season and unfortunately it did not go well.
“And now I spoke with him in the last days and he feels really, really good, comparing between the first surgery and the second.
“Hopefully he can help us in the last part of the season.”
Kovacic made more than 30 Premier League appearances in both of his first two seasons at the Etihad. City’s boss evidently values him, and insisted: “I miss him a lot because of his ability in the short passes.
“I remember last season, when we played without proper wingers, we played with a lot of players inside, with Bernardo, Rodri, him, this connection, these three.
“That was magnificent, how they had the ability to break this one-against-one, dribble the opponent and attack the next line.
“Kovacic, I already miss him a lot.”
Guardiola will hope that the midfielder’s return can strengthen his squad, who are still fighting in all four competitions.
The Catalan continued: “Kovacic is a special player, special quality, mentality. Another player that at the biggest stages, he’s so brave, so good.
“First for his health, for his life it is important to play football again, that is what we want.
“But yeah, Kovacic is an important player and we miss him, we miss him a lot.”
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