Man City injury news: Positive Rayan Cherki update with potential early return date ‘revealed’

Manchester City have received a major boost regarding the fitness of summer signing Rayan Cherki, according to a report.

The 22-year-old joined the Citizens from boyhood club Lyon for £34m in June and was swiftly integrated into Pep Guardiola squad, featuring four times at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Cherki scored on his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 4-0 opening win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, before starting his first match in England’s top division in a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on August 23.

The French playmaker has not played for Man City since, though, after Guardiola revealed at the end of August that his No.10 will be “out for two months, seven or eight weeks” with a thigh injury.

Cherki has missed each of Man City’s last five matches across three different competitions, with the Citizens winning three of those including Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup third round.

It was initially thought that Cherki could be sidelined for as many as 11 Man City games and would target a return to first-team action in early to mid-November.

Man City’s Cherki could return against Monaco or Brentford

However, L’Equipe journalist Loic Tanzi claims that Cherki underwent an MRI earlier this week and his thigh injury has “healed”, with the playmaker having now “resumed reconditioning work.”

Tanzi has said that Cherki could be part of Man City’s squad for a Premier League trip to Brentford on October 5, but he may return as soon as next Wednesday when the Citizens travel to Monaco in the Champions League.

This news comes as a major boost the Guardiola, who is currently having to cope without Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Ait-Nouri (unspecified), Abdukodir Khusanov (ankle) and Mateo Kovacic.

While both Marmoush and Khusanov could return at a similar time to Cherki at the beginning of October, Koavcic continues to recover from Achilles surgery from the summer and is targeting a full recovery after the next international break.

Ait-Nouri, meanwhile, has been absent since the end of August with an ankle injury and the Manchester Evening News claims that the left-back is not expected to return to training until the end of next month’s international break at the earliest.

Ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Burnley, Guardiola is expected to provide a fresh update on the fitness of his Man City squad, including Erling Haaland who has emerged as a minor doubt after missing the midweek win at Huddersfield with a back issue.