Manchester City squad returns to full fitness as defender reveals return to training on Instagram

Pep Guardiola has a fully-fit Manchester City first-team squad at his disposal once again, after Manuel Akanji returned to training with his teammates this week.

That development follows a string of boosts to the Manchester City squad across the course of January, first sparked by the return of Kevin De Bruyne following the Belgian’s recovery from hamstring surgery last summer.

Jeremy Doku also returned following a lengthy lay-off with a muscular problem, while John Stones has completed his recovery process from an ankle knock sustained in the victory over Everton at Goodison Park last month.

Erling Haaland is also expected to complete his process from a bone stress and fracture in his foot that has ruled the Norwegian striker out of action since late November, with Manchester City expected to be cautious in reintegrating the forward into competitive action.

Completing the squad this week, it has also been confirmed that Manuel Akanji has returned to first-team training at the City Football Academy ahead of Manchester City’s crunch run of games in the second-half of the season.

As revealed on his official Instagram channel on Tuesday morning, Manuel Akanji returned to Manchester City first-team training this week following an injury sustained in the FA Cup third round victory over Huddersfield Town earlier this month.

Pep Guardiola also confirmed the return of the 28-year-old ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Burnley, saying: “Manu [Akanji] is back. He trained yesterday and doesn’t feel anything in his knee, it is really good news.”

The Switzerland international defender’s return to training now means that Manchester City have their entire first-team roster in training ahead of their February fixture list, which begins after one final game in the Premier League this month.

City welcome Vincent Kompany’s Burnley to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, as the reigning Champions hope to maintain their 100 per cent winning start to the new season, and build from their 0-1 FA Cup fourth round win at Tottenham last Friday.