Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini’s defensive conundrum has been made more problematic after skipper Vincent Kompany limped off with a groin injury in last night’s thrashing of Newcastle.
This adds even more pressure to the already thin cover City have at the back after Matija Nastasic was side-lined in pre-season and will be out for at least a month.
This may encourage the Blues to step up their chase of Real Madrid’s Pepe who has been heavily linked with the Manchester side throughout the transfer window.
The 4-0 demolition of the Magpies would have been a perfect start to the new campaign for the Blues but the injury to Kompany means Pellegrini has some serious thinking to do.
“The doctor will see exactly what he has, but maybe we can think about another centre-back,” Pellegrini said.
“We will see what happened with the injury. The doctor will say how many days or weeks he will be injured.”
Manchester City’s influential skipper lay on the ground and immediately held his groin after knocking the ball out of play.
The Blues’ medical staff rushed to the Belgian captain’s side after it was immediately clear he was in deep distress.
City’s talismanic defender was helped off the pitch before being replaced by make-shift defender Javi Garcia.
However, after the game Kompany, 27, tweeted: “Team was great. I felt great. Injury is a blow after all the hard work. I’ll be back to that level in no time. Thanks for all the support!”
This will come as a relief to City fans after the centre-back picked up a calf injury during last season which played a major part in the Premier league trophy returning across the city to Manchester United.
The Belgian’s fellow defender Pablo Zabaleta said: “It is hard for the team to lose the captain. He is one of the most important players for the team but sometimes it happens in football.
“Obviously after the pre-season people are a little bit tired. I wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he can come back as soon as possible.”
City travel to Cardiff next weekend and will have to do without their imposing leader.
Image courtesy of Sky Sports, via YouTube
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