Pep Guardiola confirms Manchester City star will be ruled out for up to TWO WEEKS as part of bumper five-man injury update

Bernardo Silva could be out of action for Manchester City for up to two weeks, following the injury sustained against Crvena zvezda on Tuesday night.

The Portugal international was replaced shortly before the half-time interval in Manchester City’s Champions League opener in midweek, with Jeremy Doku taking his place in the forward line for Pep Guardiola’s side.

While the injury was somewhat of a mystery to those in attendance at the Etihad Stadium, and Guardiola was unable to offer more detailed insight into the nature of the problem, Bernardo Silva has since undergone an assessment by club medical staff.

As such, Pep Guardiola has now offered a more detailed update on his attacking midfielder, indicating just how long he could be out of action for, along with a significant update on the other four doubtful players in his first-team squad.

Speaking on the subject of Bernardo Silva, ahead of the weekend’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola said, “He has a little injury, it’s not anything much. His clinical development is good. But I don’t know, one week, 10 days… one week, two weeks, he will be out.”

Jack Grealish could however make a return to action this weekend, having been ruled out for the last couple of weeks with a muscular problem, while Mateo Kovacic is coming towards the end of his own recovery process.

“Jack (Grealish) is coming back, in terms of yesterday he trained and trained well. Maybe he will be ready to play some minutes (this weekend),” explained Pep Guardiola. “Mateo (Kovacic) is almost, in the last part of the recovery to coming back.”

Elsewhere, and John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne will remain out of action this weekend, with the latter not expected to step up his recovery until late on in 2023, with a return to on-field action for the Premier League champions predicted for early 2024.

Manchester City will be looking to maintain their hot streak of form by making it six wins out of a possible six in the Premier League this weekend, as they take on Steve Cooper’s men at the Etihad Stadium.

Cooper himself has labelled the clash against last season’s Treble winners in the north-west of England as the most challenging game in world football at present – a description that Pep Guardiola was grateful for during his own match preview.

Following the clash against Forest, Manchester City will then turn their attentions to the start of their Carabao Cup campaign, as they face Newcastle United at St James’ Park in the third round of the competition.

The clash in the north-east may be an opportunity for Guardiola to rest and rotate his squad, with the early understanding being that the likes of Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips, Oscar Bobb, and Stefan Ortega Moreno could all start.