Manchester City’s Rayan Aït-Nouri ruled out for 5 weeks with injury | OneFootball

Manchester City have lost another defender to injury with confirmation that Rayan Aït-Nouri (24) will miss five weeks of action after sustaining an ankle injury in the club’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham last month.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, the Algerian international’s setback is expected to keep him sidelined until late October. The injury comes at an unfortunate time for City, with the club facing a challenging run of fixtures in the coming weeks, as well as the start of their Champions League campaign in midweek.

Aït-Nouri had enjoyed a promising start to life at the Etihad, impressing in City’s FIFA Club World Cup triumph and producing a standout display in the 4-0 victory over Wolves on the opening weekend. His enforced absence now halts that early momentum, just as he appeared close to cementing the left-back role as his own.

Ait Nouri adds to City’s injury woes

He joins a growing list of City absentees, with Rayan Cherki, Omar Marmoush, and Mateo Kovačić all currently out injured. In Aït-Nouri’s absence, Guardiola is expected to turn to Nathan Aké or Joško Gvardiol to cover the left side of defence. Both are dependable options, but neither offers quite the same attacking thrust that Aït-Nouri has provided.

City will face Manchester United in the much-anticipated derby match on Sunday.

GFN | Finn Entwistle