Manchester City defender provides crucial fitness update ahead of Community Shield clash against Arsenal

Nathan Ake is expecting to be fit to face Arsenal in Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley after going off in Manchester City’s pre-season win over Bayern Munich last week.

The Netherlands international was hauled off in the first-half of City’s 2-1 triumph as goals from James McAtee and Aymeric Laporte either side of a Mathys Tel leveller secured a narrow win for Pep Guardiola’s side in Tokyo.

Some good news did come Ake’s way however over the weekend, as the 28-year-old penned a fresh four-year deal at the Etihad Stadium following his outstanding displays in defence for the treble winners last season.

Manchester City will be desperate to avoid a third successive Community Shield loss when they take on title rivals Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday.

However, Guardiola is likely to be able to call on Ake, who is expecting to prove his fitness in time for the season opener against Mikel Arteta’s men.

“It’s a tight calf. We will seen the next few days, but it’s nothing serious. I’ll be okay next week, for sure,” the defender said on Friday, as per Sam Lee of The Athletic.

Ake made 41 appearances across all competitions for the European champions last term and has secured his place in Guardiola’s starting XI despite a challenging debut campaign following his £41 million arrival from Bournemouth in 2020.

City hope to secure the arrival of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig this week to strengthen their backline as Aymeric Laporte looks to seal a permanent move elsewhere for regular first-team football.

Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez have already left Manchester City, who remain hopeful of keeping hold of Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker into the new season having added Mateo Kovacic to their midfield ranks from Chelsea in the transfer window.