Enzo Maresca confirms Antoine Semenyo will miss eight weeks as Erling Haaland nears return
Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Antoine Semenyo will be out for around eight weeks with a knee injury, but Erling Haaland could be available for Manchester City's Champions League meeting with AEK Athens on Tuesday.
Both players limped off at the end of City's 3-2 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Matheus Nunes, Nico O'Reilly and Mateo Kovacic were also forced off through injury, though Maresca said all three are recovering well.
Speaking at his press conference on Monday, the City manager offered a cautiously positive update on Haaland.
However, it was a less positive update for Semenyo, who is facing two months on the sidelines.
“He can be available, we will see. He was quite good yesterday, better. We will see today. The rest are more or less all ok, the only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine.”
That said, Maresca admitted the club had initially feared something far more serious for Semenyo, before a scan brought an element of relief.
“In the first moment, we expect an even worse injury (for Semenyo) so we were more worried but after the scan we feel much better because it's not as big as we expected. It will be eight weeks. Now the most important thing is to recover. When he is back, around December, we have a new player in terms of energy.”
Semenyo’s extended absence leaves City short at centre-forward. Maresca had previously said Semenyo would act as back-up striker if Haaland was unavailable, after City did not replace Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian's previous deputy, in the summer transfer window. Marmoush was allowed to leave for Tottenham Hotspur on loan, in search of more minutes.
Haaland has been in fine form, scoring 12 goals in eight games and netting in every match except the season opener. Even so, Maresca insisted there is no need to worry about a lack of alternatives for now.
“We will see. At the moment it's Erling so why we need to think of a different nine? If something happens or we need a different nine, we'll see.”
City host AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, having beaten Porto in their Champions League opener in September before losing 4-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain last week.
