Guardiola updates on Savinho, Nico and Kovacic fitness

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·23 janvier 2026

Guardiola updates on Savinho, Nico and Kovacic fitness

Pep Guardiola says Savinho could be back in contention for selection in the next few weeks, while he’s hopeful Nico will feature against Galatasaray next Wednesday.

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Savinho hasn’t featured since the New Year’s Day draw at Sunderland after being withdrawn 51 minutes in at the Stadium of Light with a leg injury.

Meanwhile, Nico has missed our last two outings and Mateo Kovacic has played just twice this season.

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Speaking to media ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Wolves, Guardiola gave the latest on the trio.

“Savinho still stuck. Yesterday he ran on the pitch so maybe two weeks or three weeks, or maybe less I don’t know,” he began.

“Nico, I hope he can help us for the absence of Rodri for Galatasaray but he is a doubt.

“And Kova, I spoke with him after Fulham when we qualified for the Champions League, I said don’t go to the [Club] World Cup and stay and make surgery quick.

“Played two or three games and again his bone didn’t react well so he had surgery.

“We have three top [midfielders], we are lucky Nico G helped us a lot in that position but yeah, it is what it is.”

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Analysing Wolves ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash

It’s been a tough start to the new calendar year for Guardiola’s side, winning just two of our seven games across four competitions.

Despite that, we remain handily placed in the Premier League and still with a chance of automatic progress to the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

On top of that, we’re into the fourth round of the FA Cup and have the upper hand in our two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final with Newcastle United.

However, after successive defeats to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, Guardiola says there are several factors in our recent results.

The boss was also keen to point out how deeply the injury issues across the squad affect his planning.

“Football isn’t just about aggression, after it’s what you do with the ball,” he said when asked if his side need to be more physical.

“Football is many things, one day they say we don’t have aggression, but next game we don’t make good passes or movements or defend set pieces bad.

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“There are lots of factors. Bodo play completely different. They played 4-4-2 so narrow. So narrow.

“When the team is so narrow, the space is for wingers, how many wingers did we have v Bodo? Zero.

“So when we arrive there with Nico O’Reilly or Rayan Ait-Nouri, who were exceptional, it’s not the same without Savinho, Doku, Bobb, all the wingers that we have.

“Because we don’t have the team. Give me the team please. It’s all I ask. No more than that. We don’t have it. When we had it, seven or eight wins in a row.

“After that the players come back and have to play again, another one injured again. This roll will happens.

“Hopefully we can stay there because we are in the Carabao Cup semi-final, FA Cup, and we have a strong team in front of us but Champions League almost there.

“When we arrive in March only I ask for the team back. After that, I promise we will be there because we spent a lot of money.”