Medical insider issues ‘career-defining’ Aymeric Laporte claims as Man City return date revealed
Aymeric Laporte will use his return from injury at Man City as a springboard to prepare him for a potentially “career-defining” World Cup.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Laporte, 28, underwent knee surgery at the end of 2021-22 and has not played for City since.
As quoted by club media last Friday (26 August), Pep Guardiola revealed: “In late September/October, Aymer will be back, too.”
The 15-time Spanish international will hope to have regained fitness ahead of the World Cup, which starts on 20 November.
Dinnery claims that the defender will now be laser-focused on the tournament in Qatar.
“His focus will be on wanting to be involved in the winter World Cup,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“As far as Guardiola is concerned, he will not be too phased by that. For players, these tournaments can be career-defining.
“Typically when we talk about a return to performance it comes down to the individual, the player they are, the position they play.
“It also comes down to the fact that City have Dias, Stones, Ake who are all going to be vying for starts in the absence of Laporte. So, it will come down to how many minutes he can get there.
“Typically, you want six to eight games under your belt before you’re feeling back to where you were pre-injury. But it’s rarely plain sailing when you’ve been out for a significant time.
“Form-wise, Luis Enrique may have to take a calculated risk on whether or not to take him to the World Cup based on the performances he’s put in.”
In other news, pundit suggests Man City could U-turn on Manuel Akanji deal after journalist’s £15m reveal.