Yahoo Finance Manchester City's injury crisis deepens with Gabriel Jesus out for three weeks
Manchester City’s injury crisis has deepened after Gabriel Jesus withdrew from the Brazil squad and will miss his country’s fixtures next month.
Jesus, 23, played in all of City’s victory at Wolves on Monday, when he scored in the final stages at Molineux, but the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) have confirmed he is set for a spell on the sidelines.
They have ruled him out of matches against Bolivia and Peru on Oct 9 and 13, meaning he is set to miss City’s Premier League clash with Leicester at the weekend, their Carabao Cup tie at Burnley next Wednesday and the game at Leeds on the eve of the international break.
Brazil manager Tite has called up Hertha Berlin forward Matheus Cunha to replace Jesus for the World Cup qualifiers.
The CBF say national team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar was told on Wednesday that Jesus had picked up the injury in the 3-1 win, City’s first match of the season.
City manager Pep Guardiola says he has just 13 fit players for the Leicester game at the weekend. Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Joao Cancelo are also injured and Ilkay Gundogan is isolating with Covid-19.
Guardiola says 17-year-old Liam Delap, who scored against Bournemouth on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, will stay with the senior squad.
“The situation we have right now, we have just 13 players available in the first team,” said Guardiola. “We need the academy, not just for the training sessions. They can be selected during the games.
“With the problems we have up front, of course Liam will stay with us. We'll see if we need him or use him.”
Delap arrived from Derby County a year ago and has earned comparisons with Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland for his powerful frame and explosiveness in the penalty area. Compared to Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, he is a more old-fashioned No 9.
He has played for England Under-17s and City’s congested fixture list means he could get more opportunities this season.
“We cannot forget, like the same way we spoke about Phil Foden in previous seasons, Liam's just 17 years old,” Guardiola said. “He has a lot of things to improve, steps need their own time.
“He is a different striker than we have in terms of physicality, but we see in training sessions how good a finisher he is. Now we are calm, still working, but we are delighted with his performance.”
