Manchester City forward Rayan Cherki has been ruled out for two months with a torn quad.
Cherki was left out of City’s squad as they slumped to a second successive defeat on Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s men letting a 1-0 lead slip in a 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
And Guardiola confirmed in his post-match press conference that City would be without Cherki for a prolonged period, with national team France revealing the nature of the injury as they announced his withdrawal from their squad for Les Bleus’ upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Cherki will be replaced in Didier Deschamps’ squad by Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike, who has made an impressive start to life at Anfield following his move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
France will face Ukraine and Iceland as they begin their campaign to book a place in the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
Which games will Cherki miss?
Cherki scored on his Premier League debut against Wolves and featured in City’s 2-0 loss to Tottenham having joined City from Lyon prior to the Club World Cup.
A two-month absence would keep Cherki out of some hugely significant fixtures.
Here are the fixtures he will miss if that timescale proves correct:
- Manchester United (H)
- Napoli (H)
- Arsenal (A)
- Burnley (H)
- Monaco (A)
- Brentford (A)
- Everton (H)
- Villarreal (A)
- Aston Villa (A)
In addition, he is also set to miss City’s EFL Cup tie with Huddersfield Town, the date of which is still to be confirmed.
