Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte will miss the first month of the season after undergoing knee surgery in the summer.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged that the Spanish defender played through pain at the close of the last season to assist Man City in winning the Premier League.
New signings Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, and Julian Alvarez are all available for the Community Shield opener against Liverpool on Saturday.
What Did Pep Guardiola Say About Laporte?
“Laporte is hurt,” Man City manager Pep Guardiola said at a press conference. “He had knee surgery after last season, played the last two or three games with an important injury and made an incredible effort.
“He had surgery, so far is doing really well but you have to be careful with a knee. I think through August he will be out, September I think maybe he will start to be with us.”
Can Man City Fill Laporte’s Spot?
With Ruben Dias, John Stones, and Nathan Ake all out due to injuries at the end of last season, resources were stretched in the centre of defence.
Guardiola was forced to use Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho as an emergency center-back since he had no other options.
While Stones was in Croatia after failing to clear immigration restrictions to the United States, Ake and Dias began Man City’s final pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich.
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Are There Any Other Defensive Issues?
Guardiola is presently without a senior left-back following the summer departure of Oleks Zinchenko to Arsenal.
Josh Wilson-Esbrand, a promising academy player, might make his debut against Liverpool after impressing on the US tour.
City are still looking for a replacement for Zinchenko, although Guardiola refused to comment on reports that Brighton’s Marc Cucurella has thrown in a transfer request.
“He is a Brighton player, I cannot say anything else,” he said.
On the addition of a left-back, he stated: If it is possible yes if not we stay with what we have. We have enough players who can play there. I never complain about the squad I have.”
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