Following the international break, Mateo Kovacic’s health has become a concern for Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City team
Along with his City teammate Josko Gvardiol, Kovacic travelled with the Croatian national team for the past two European Championship qualification games against Latvia and Armenia. Mateo Kovacic was a named substitute in both games but did not come off the bench, even though he contributed to the 5-0 win over Latvia and the 0-1 triumph over Armenia.
As a result, after the first of the two games, concerns were expressed about his fitness. Kovacic said, “I had some issues before the match with Latvia, but now I’m ready, looking ahead to the match against Armenia. Now Mateo Kovacic was reportedly unable to play for Croatia in their most recent international matches owing to a muscle ailment in his back, according to information from Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List, translated and transmitted by the Manchester Evening News.
According to reports, the City midfielder may need to have an MRI and may be sidelined for 10 days or more, which would keep him from playing in the teams’ respective matches against West Ham and Red Star Belgrade in the Premier League and Champions League.
Mateo Kovacic is anticipated to be evaluated for fitness by City medical personnel when he arrives in Manchester this week, should there be a good reason for further investigation into the player’s status. In their first game back after the break, Manchester City takes on West Ham United as Pep Guardiola and his team want to keep up their undefeated start to the new campaign.
Guardiola himself has also recovered from a fitness issue after undergoing emergency back surgery in Barcelona last month, which prevented him from participating in any Manchester City matchday or training activities for two games. Now that the Catalan head coach has returned to Manchester ahead of the rigorous game calendar that City will face between now and the next international break in October, Juanma Lillo is scheduled to resume his duties as an assistant coach this coming weekend.
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