Manchester City star Oscar Bobb has had a frustrating year and is working towards a return this season
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Oscar Bobb of Manchester City during a training session at Manchester City Football Academy
Oscar Bobb is back in training as he closes in on a Manchester City return
Oscar Bobb is 'progressing nicely' as he works towards his first minutes for Manchester City since the Community Shield. The 21-year-old was a standout star for Pep Guardiola in pre-season and underlined his potential with an assist for Bernardo Silva in the closing moments of the opening match against United, with the Blues going on to win the shootout at Wembley.
Then disaster struck. As City warmed up for the start of their Premier League defence, Bobb suffered a leg fracture in the days before their trip to Chelsea and was ruled out for months.
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A few setbacks have not helped, and neither has City's form. With plenty still to fight for, Guardiola has not been able to ease Bobb back into the team.
That led to the Norwegian turning out for the Under-21s in their Premier League 2 match with Crystal Palace earlier this month as he looks to build up the minutes in his leg.
Having been in training with the first team for a number of week, match minutes will help to continue Bobb's progress.
However, he is still not there yet. Norway did not call him up for their upcoming matches, judging that it would be too much on his body to after so long out.
Bobb is close to striker Erling Haaland, who is a teammate for club and country. The superstar helped him to settle into the City first team after arriving at the club in 2022 as Bobb was starting to get more opportunities under Guardiola.
Asked about how close Bobb is to a return, City's No.9 said: "The progression is nice. He's playing with the second team and is back from a long injury.
"It takes time to come back after such a long time out, but hopefully he'll be fit soon."
Guardiola has badly missed Bobb during his time out of the club. The City boss watched him blossom last season in his first year with the senior squad, with a brilliant last-minute winner at Newcastle one of the key moments in the team clinching a fourth consecutive Premier League title.
The absence of Rodri and so many central defenders has been an enormous blow to City's hopes of a successful campaign, although Bobb's injury has also robbed City of some energy up front. With the team failing at both ends, Bobb's return is anticipated.
"You know how our high pressing with Oscar Bobb is?," Guardiola said on November. "He has incredible talent. He’s intuitive against two central defenders and the fullback at the same time.
"We can stay high, we can recover quicker! Without him we are less."
City return to action with an FA Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth next Sunday, and then have nine league games left to try and confirm Champions League qualification for next season. Should they beat Bournemouth, a Wembley semi-final awaits as well.