Man City injury update: Rodri, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden latest news and return dates | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola’s side are missing some key names going into new season

Man City could be without a couple of their star players when they open their Premier League campaign this weekend.

Pep Guardiola’s team were plagued with injuries last season, forcing them to invest heavily in the transfer market last January, signing the likes of Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis, and Abdukodir Khusanov.

They did most of their transfer business early this summer, signing Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, James Trafford, Sverre Nypan, and Marcus Bettinelli to add to their current complement.

Will Guardiola get any of his absentees back this weekend? Here is Man City’s latest transfer news...

Rodri

Perhaps the biggest miss, and one that they have become acclimatised to after the Ballon d’Or holder missed the majority of last season with an ACL injury that he suffered against Arsenal.

The Spaniard suffered another setback in his comeback from that long-term hiatus, with Guardiola revealing that he had sustained a “big injury” in City’s defeat to Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup.

After their trip to Wolves, City take on Tottenham and Brighton before the international break at the beginning of September.

"Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal," Guardiola said.

"He has trained better in the last few days. Hopefully after the international break, he will be really fit.

"Hopefully in these games, he can play some minutes, but what is important is that he doesn't have pain because we don't want Rodri coming back injured. We will try desperately to avoid that.

"He has been training the last two sessions with us and that's good."

Potential return date: Wolves (a) on Saturday, August 16, 2025

Phil Foden

Guardiola conceded that the England international had missed out on City’s trip to Palermo with an ankle niggle, although the Catalan held hope that he would have the former PFA Player of the Year winner back for the visit to the Black Country.

“Phil was doing really good but he had a problem with a knock on his ankle that’s why as a precaution we did it,” Guardiola explained.

“Phil, hopefully [could play 90 minutes against Wolves], it depends on the problem but it’s a long week so hopefully.”

Potential return date: Wolves (a) on Saturday, August 16, 2025

Mateo Kovacic

Kovacic is one that missed the Club World Cup campaign after he had surgery on an Achilles problem.

There had been hope that the former Chelsea midfielder could return in time for the start of the league season, but Guardiola poured cold water on that almost immediately.

“We have three [defensive midfielders] I would say with Kova injured until September or October - hopefully earlier,” Guardiola said of the Croat.

Potential return date: Burnley (h) on Saturday, September 27, 2025

Claudio Echeverri

Another casualty in midfield for Guardiola, as Argentine prospect Echeverri was also ruled out for a number of weeks.

The 19-year-old joined the club back in January, making a handful of appearances last term, but missed the remainder of City’s Club World Cup campaign after scoring a free-kick in a 6-0 win over Al-Ain.

He turned his ankle in training, with Guardiola revealing back in June that he would be out for “two or three weeks”, although he should be available for selection this weekend.