English Premier League holders Manchester City face fitness woes over Vincent Kompany after club captain suffered an injury scare during training with his national team.
The Belgian defender sustained calf problems during the Red Devils preparation for a friendly against Australia, missing Belgium's Wednesday training session, and was sent for a scan to determine the extent of the problem.
This may come as unsettling news to Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, who despite signing French centre-back Eliaqium Mangala from Porto for £32m, will find it hard replacing the 28-year-old skipper, who has become an intergral part in Manchester City's backline, if he stumbles across a lengthy sideline.
Beglium coach Marc Wilmots played down the injury scare, revealing via Twitter that Kompany's scan showed no worrisome damage, tweeting:
“Good news for Vincent Kompany,” Wilmots tweeted. “He will do light training tomorrow (Thursday) and we will then see whether he can play. Without taking any risk of course!”
Goed nieuws ivm scan @VincentKompany. Hij warmt morgen mee op & daarna beslissen we of hij kan spelen. We gaan geen onnodige risico's nemen!
— Marc Wilmots (@WilmotsMarc) September 3, 2014
But this may not calm down the Manchester City faithful. Kompany has become somewhat of an injury-prone player during his five years at the Etihad, something highlighted in the mega-rich Manchester side's 2013-14 season in which reoccuring muscle issues kept Kompany out of 21 of his team's 57 games in all competitions.
Manchester City, who are grouped with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League group E, face a stern test when the international breaks comes to an end, facing challeging fixtures which will see the Citizens take on Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea in the span of eight days.
