Man City injury update: Rodri, Ait-Nouri and Khusanov latest news and return dates | OneFootball

A trio of players returned from injury over the weekend, but three more remained out

Manchester City welcome back Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and Mateo Kovacic during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton, providing a major boost to Pep Guardiola’s squad ahead of a busy winter fixture run.

There were still several missing faces from City’s most recent matchday squad, though.

With Guardiola’s side looking to compete on all four fronts this season between the Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup, the Spanish manager will hope to welcome back a few more key players within the next week or so.

Here’s all the latest Man City injury news and return dates...

Rodri

After hobbling off early against Brentford, Rodri withdrew from Spain’s squad for the October international break.

The midfielder downplayed the severity of the injury, telling Sky Sports: "I felt a little bit in the hamstring - but it seems as though it's not that much.

"I stretched a bit, like in the final of the Euros [when he had to go off injured]. But the most important thing is it's not that big."

Rodri picked up a hamstring injury against Brentford before the recent international break

Getty Images

Still, Guardiola will not want to rush one of his star players back - particularly one with as little luck on the injury front as Rodri has had over the past year or so, including the ACL tear that kept him side-lined for most of last season.

Indeed, City’s head coach had this to say on Friday: ”I don’t know [how long he will be out]. Not yet. Not ready for tomorrow.”

And we didn’t hear anything else after the win over Everton, so it’s safe to say that Rodri’s return probably won’t be for at least another week.

Potential return date: November

Rayan Ait-Nouri

Elsewhere on the injury front, summer signing Rayan Ait-Nouri was lumped in with Marmoush when Guardiola told us on Friday that the pair, who had been out of action since August, “trained [on Thursday] and are much, much better.

“They are close to coming back,” the City boss added, which Marmoush did via a substitute appearance. Ait-Nouri, however, was again absent form the matchday squad, suggesting the Algeria international is a little further behind in his recovery from an ankle injury sustained against Tottenham.

Like Rodri, no new update on his fitness has been released since the weekend. However, there’s a chance we’ll see Ait-Nouri at least make the bench within the next week, either for the midweek Champions League trip to Villarreal on Tuesday or Sunday’s visit to Aston Villa.

Abdukodir Khusanov

Having been forced off at half-time of City’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal in September, Abdukodir Khusanov was believed to be nearing a return after the international break.

Speaking after the game against Gunners, Guardiola said he expected the Uzbekistan international to miss three matches with the reported ankle injury he picked up.

Post-Everton, five matches have passed since then and we haven’t had another update from the club, suggesting Khusanov’s recovery has been slower than expected.

He was not involved for his country during their recent friendlies against Uruguay and Kuwait, either, and was not spotted in Sky Sports’ training ground video last week.

A return against Villa next weekend still might not be out of the question.