Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after picking up a knee injury last weekend. However, manager Enzo Maresca said striker Erling Haaland could still feature in Tuesday's home Champions League match against AEK Athens.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Maresca said Semenyo's injury was not as serious as first feared, but the 26-year-old still needs time to recover. The Ghana international has scored twice and provided three assists in the Premier League this season.
Semenyo limped off after Saturday's 3-2 home win over Ipswich Town, shortly after Haaland felt pain in his foot and ankle during stoppage time. Semenyo came on as a 77th-minute substitute at the Etihad.
“It could be eight weeks. The most important thing now is recovery. When he comes back in December, it will be like a new player. This is not a muscle injury,” Maresca said.
“We tried to keep him fresh, giving him only a few minutes, he hasn't played much, but sometimes things we can't control still happen,” he added.
On Haaland, Maresca said there was still some doubt over the Norwegian's fitness for the AEK match but struck an optimistic note: “He may play, we'll see how it goes. There were some concerns after Saturday's game. Yesterday he was much better. We'll check on him today.”
Haaland scored twice in the win over Ipswich, keeping City's perfect record at seven wins from seven in the Premier League. The 26-year-old has now scored in each of his last eight appearances for City, for a total of 12 goals.
“Of course, replacing Erling is always difficult, but we have some other options. Phil [Foden] could be a solution, not the only one… but right now, the number nine is still Erling,” Maresca said.
Maresca sees the AEK game as a chance for City to bounce back from last week's 2-4 home defeat to European champions Paris St Germain, which left the club 17th in the standings with three points from two matches.
“I think the reaction after the PSG game was quite good… This is a Champions League game, a different competition, but the ambition has to be the same: to try to win,” he said.
