Manchester City have confirmed that top scorer Sergio Aguero suffered damage to his left knee during Monday night’s 5-0 Premier League win over Burnley and will now travel to Barcelona to be assessed by specialist Dr Ramon Cugat.
Aguero didn’t return for the second half against Burnley, with his last contribution of the game to win the penalty scored by Riyad Mahrez that made it 3-0.
City manager Pep Guardiola expressed concern after the game. Straightaway, the Spaniard explained Aguero would undergo a scan and predicted likely surgery in Barcelona by the end of the week.
“His knee was already hurting and he got worse in the game,” Guardiola said after the game. “He thinks it’s a meniscus injury, although [on Tuesday] they will do an MRI to confirm it. I predict that they will operate on him in Barcelona on Thursday or Friday.”
? INJURY UPDATE ?@aguerosergiokun suffered damage to his left knee in our recent 5-0 win over Burnley.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 23, 2020
The striker will now travel to Barcelona to see Dr Ramon Cugat for further examination.
Everyone at City wishes Sergio the best with his recovery. ?
? #ManCity pic.twitter.com/hzOFOqybsv
As things stand, it remains unclear how long he might be sidelined for. However, estimates of a six-week layoff, particularly if Aguero does go under the knife for a meniscus problem, are already circulating. That could rule the 32-year-old out of the rest of the domestic season.
City will resume their Champions League campaign in early August, with the four-time Premier League champions holding a 2-1 aggregate advantage in their last 16 tie against Real Madrid.
A six-week layoff could make it touch and go as to whether Aguero would be fit enough to face Real in the second leg of that tie at the Etihad Stadium, although he could feature in the remainder of the competition if City hold onto their lead.
The other side of this could see Aguero not finish a season as City top scorer for the first time since 2011, before the Argentine joined the club. He was joint top scorer with Carlos Tevez in 2012/13 but has been outright top scorer for City in seven other seasons.
Aguero is currently City’s leading marksman in 2019/20 with 23 goals in all competitions, but Raheem Sterling is only two behind and could overtake Aguero in his absence.
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Source : 90min