Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has outlined the return schedule for Ghana international winger Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo came on as a late substitute in the Premier League fixture against Ipswich Town last Saturday but went down with a knee injury and will be unavailable for the next two months.
Asked about his injured players while on press duty ahead of this week's Champions League win over AEK Athens, Man City boss Maresca made it clear that Semenyo's injury is significant but could have been more serious.
'We expected an even worse injury' Manchester City boss says on Antoine Semenyo
"The rest are more or less okay. The only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine," Maresca told reporters at his press conference.
"In the first moment we expected an even worse injury so we were more worried. After yesterday’s scan we feel much better because it’s not so big like we expected.
"It could be eight weeks. Now in this moment the most important thing for him is his recovery. When he is back around December it will be like a new player in terms of energy."
Semenyo will miss the Saturday lunchtime fixture against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, and City's back-to-back Carabao Cup and Premier League games against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Man City are due to play RB Leipzig, Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Napoli and Arsenal either side of the November international break, which Semenyo would also have been called up for had he been available.
December begins with matches against Leeds United, Brentford, Barcelona and Chelsea, after which City will hope to have Semenyo back in contention.
He's a big loss for Maresca, who has selected him in City's starting line-up for six of City's seven Premier League matches this season. The 26-year-old already has two goals and three assists to his name.
Semenyo also started both of City's previous league phase matches in the Champions League, featuring against Porto and PSG.
Maresca had better news to share about striker Erling Haaland, who also picked up a knock in the Ipswich game but was fit enough to be named on the bench against AEK this week.
17-year-old Floyd Samba made his second senior appearance against the Greek side but it was Phil Foden who stole the show, scoring a hat-trick in a dominant 5-1 win for Maresca's men.
