Right now, squad injuries are the least of Manchester City’s concerns. You obviously have read/heard the bombshell news- the Premier League has found the club to guilty on all 115 charges of financial breaches. That is a massively all-encompassing story, and we will dive into it, piece by piece, over time. There are numerous questions to be asked, which none of us know the answers to, but an extra-long international break, which is of course the slowest news period, is the perfect time to discuss it. So we’ll get to that later, but for now Man City has two new injury concerns, in Nico O’Reilly and Antoine Semenyo.
Just last week, City was sitting with a fully fit squad, with the only absentee being the suspended Phil Foden. That’s certainly changed now
Nico O’Reilly
O’Reilly, as well as Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa, missed out on training with England, ahead of their UEFA Nations League clash with Croatia on Saturday.
“They missed training because of minor issues, but they are still issues,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said on Monday.
“Today, in the morning, we had a light training for the guys who started the [Spain] game. The very last checks will be made tomorrow morning. If the doctors and physios give thumbs up, then we’re good to go.”
The doctors ultimately did not give the thumbs up, at least not for O’Reilly, as he withdrew from the Three Lions squad.
“Nico O’Reilly has returned to Manchester City and will play no part in the forthcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures,” the FA statement reads.
“No further replacements are planned as the Three Lions prepare to face Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday before returning to Wembley to take on Czechia on Tuesday.”
Neither Tuchel nor the England statement specified what the exact injury issue is, so we can’t really speculate on the severity, nor the timeline for return right now.
Antoine Semenyo
Semenyo pulled out of international duty for Ghana, so that he could focus on healing up the minor ankle injury that he sustained in the 5-3 win over Sunderland, right before the international break.
It sounds like it was mostly precautionary though, so he should be fine, at least in theory, for the big match at Liverpool next weekend.
Squad Injury Updates: September/October International Break
Real Madrid Liverpool FC Chelsea Part 1 Chelsea Part 2 Manchester United Arsenal Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur Everton Aston Villa Part 1 Aston Villa Part 2 FC Barcelona Newcastle United Part 1 Newcastle United Part 2 Newcastle United Part 3 Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Leeds United
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.