Semenyo Out for Eight Weeks: Man City Knee Scan Confirms Lay-Off as Haaland Ankle Doubt Lingers

Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after scans confirmed a knee injury, manager Enzo Maresca announced on Monday. The Ghana international was hurt shortly after coming on as a substitute in Saturday's 3-2 Premier League win over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium, and the follow-up scan has ruled him out until around December.

Maresca admitted the initial fears inside the club had been considerably worse. "In the first moment, we expected an even worse injury so we were more worried," the City boss said. "But after yesterday's scan, we feel much better because it's not as big as expected. It could be eight weeks. So the most important thing for him is to recover and when he is back, probably in December, we have a new player in terms of energy."

The timing is awkward for a City side riding a record-breaking start. Maresca became the first manager in Premier League history to win his opening seven league games in charge of a club with the victory over Ipswich, and the champions now turn to a Champions League meeting with AEK Athens in midweek. Semenyo's absence removes the most natural cover for Erling Haaland, who finished the Ipswich game hobbling with a suspected ankle problem. Asked whether his striker could face the Greeks, Maresca offered only a cautious "we'll see."

Semenyo joined City from Bournemouth in January and has found regular goals harder to come by this season, scoring twice in all competitions — both in the same match, against Sunderland last month. His value to Maresca has been as a physical, direct wide option capable of deputising through the middle, precisely the role City may need if Haaland's ankle complaint lingers into a demanding run of fixtures.

For now the medical room is the busiest part of the Etihad. Haaland will be assessed ahead of Tuesday's European tie, while an eight-week timeline puts Semenyo's likely return somewhere around the visit of the mid-December league fixtures — a stretch in which City's schedule thickens with Champions League league-phase conclusion and Premier League fixtures.

City supporters will learn more from the teamsheet against AEK Athens: Haaland's name in it would ease the immediate anxiety, but the Semenyo scan guarantees Maresca must plan a full month and more of the campaign without one of his principal attacking understudies.