Leroy Sane could be out until March with ligament damage as Manchester City are dealt major injury blow 
Manchester City have been dealt a devastating setback after Pep Guardiola revealed that Leroy Sane could be out until March with knee ligament damage. Sane suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee during a collision with Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool right back, early in Sunday’s Community Shield. The Germany winger is due to undergo surgery in Barcelona on Tuesday or Wednesday next week at Dr Ramon Cugat’s Quironsalud hospital and Guardiola is now resigned to being without the 23-year-old for around seven months. Bayern Munich had been weighing up a formal bid for Sane after making him a key summer transfer target although it remains to be seen what the German giants plan to do now, with City having not given up hope of tying the player to a new long-term contract.
Sane is the third City player to have suffered anterior cruciate ligament injuries in three years after Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy.
“Normally this kind of injury in the ACL is six or seven months, hopefully in February or March he can be back with us,” the City manager said as the champions prepare to begin their title defence at West Ham United on Saturday lunchtime. “I didn’t think about him leaving. Always I said he’s our player and he didn’t tell me he wanted to leave, always I thought he was ours “In the final [Community Shield] he played. It’s bad news as in three seasons we’ve had three ACLs. He’s young and he will recover well hopefully in terms of the surgery next week. All the people will help him, he will feel alone and we help him to feel as comfortable as possible.
“In the first season we didn’t have Gundo, then Benjamin. We played with [Fabian] Delph and Aleks (Oleksandr Zinchenko], they weren’t left backs, now Leroy. We feel we are here and we are going to help him.”
Sane’s long absence will increase Riyad Mahrez’s prospects of more regular football after an indifferent debut season.
Mahrez has been cleared to play against West Ham after Guardiola admitted the Algeria playmaker had been omitted from City’s Community Shield squad over fears he might fail a drugs test.
Guardiola revealed that City’s doctors were uncertain whether medicine Mahrez had ingested during his time with Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations this summer would contravene UK Anti-Doping regulations. Mahrez is understood to have had a private nose procedures in the days before rejoining City following Algeria’s triumph on July 19, and there is no suggestion of illicit drug use. “He’s clear to play now,” said Guardiola.
David Silva has been chosen by City’s squad to captain the side next season in what will be his tenth and final campaign at the club. Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero will be assistant captains in the committee style operation City’s players run.
“David Silva will be our captain, Fernandinho, Kevin and Sergio,” he said. “The captain has to be what he is. He’s one decade here, knows the Premier League, big respect.”
Gundogan - who had entered the final 12 months of his deal - has signed a three-year contract extension that commits the Germany midfielder to the club until June 2023, bringing to an end months of protracted negotiations.
“My point of view in this situation is that I spoke with him once and said I’d be delighted if he can stay as it’s difficult to find players like him in Europe,” Guardiola said. “Thank you for him and the club for keeping him with us for the next four years.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/08/09/leroy-sane-could-march-ligament-damage-manchester-city-dealt/
