Pep Guardiola is expecting Leroy Sane to be missing for Manchester City for at least six months.
The winger, subject of an aggressive pursuit in the transfer market from Bayern Munich, suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage to his right knee in the early stages of the Community Shield win over Liverpool.
Having not expected Sane to move on this summer, news of his injury has hit City hard as they plan for the season ahead. The German will have surgery next week in Barcelona on Tuesday or Wednesday and then start his rehabilitation process that the club will hopefully see him fit for the final few months of the season.
City have had to cope without Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy with similiar injuries, and Guardiola wants everyone to rally around Sane to support him as he recovers.
"I don’t know but normally these kind of injuries are six to seven months," the City boss said. "Hopefully in February or March he can come back with us.
"I didn’t think he was leaving. Always I said he's our player and he didn’t tell me he wanted to leave, he played the pre-season and he played in the final.
"Unfortunately it’s incredibly bad news because in three seasons we have had three ACLs. He’s a young player, hopefully he will recover well in terms of the surgery next week. He is in the best hands possible. All the people here are going to try to help him in the tough moment because he will feel alone after a few months."
