Manchester City have confirmed that Ilkay Gundogan has injured his anterior cruciate ligament, and the extent of the problem will assessed further.
Gundogan went down injured in City’s 2-0 win over Watford earlier this week, and Pep Guardiola stated afterwards that he’d sustained a bad injury to his knee and could be on the sidelines for quite a while.
Further tests have reportedly taken place since he picked up the problem and City have now confirmed via their official website that the summer signings has injured his cruciate knee ligaments.
It suggests that his season is now over considering the normal length of time a similar injury takes to heal, but City will continue to assess the situation and determine an approximate length of time he’ll be absent for.
Guardiola said: “It’s so so difficult for him, it’s sad for him, we’re going to miss him a lot, it’s unlucky, but that’s football. Now we need him to feel we are there and wait and come back safe. He’s going to be operated (upon) and be back as soon as possible.”
Gundogan’s injury is a bitter blow to both the player and club, as the German was Guardiola’s first signing in the summer after taking over from Manuel Pellegrini.
He cost around £20 million but had to wait for his debut after dislocating his knee back in May.