Sergio Agüero has indicated he could miss Manchester City’s next seven matches and be unable to return from his hamstring injury until after the next international break when Liverpool visit on 21 November.
The 27-year-old, who scored five times in the 6-1 win over Newcastle United before the break, suffered the problem in Argentina’s defeat to Ecuador last week.
He said: “I hope I can be there against Brazil [on 13 November] but the injury must be let to recover a bit so there is no relapse. This is an injury you have to recover bit by bit but of course I want to be back quickly.”
While Vincent Kompany played 58 minutes of Belgium’s victory over Israel on Tuesday night without apparently aggravating his recent calf problem, Agüero’s absence is a huge blow to City.
If he cannot return before the Liverpool game the striker will miss the matches against Sevilla home and away in the Champions League, Crystal Palace in the Capital One Cup, and Bournemouth, Norwich City, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the Premier League, before the next international break in early November.
David Silva, meanwhile, injured an ankle playing for Spain against Luxembourg and is now in a race to be fit for the Manchester derby on 25 October.
