Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo ruled out for eight weeks with knee problem

Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo has been ruled out for around two months with a knee injury, manager Enzo Maresca has revealed.

The Ghana international suffered the problem in the latter stages of Saturday’s Premier League victory over Ipswich, having only entered the game as a 77th-minute substitute.

Maresca admitted the club were actually relieved the problem was not more serious, with the issue proving to be collateral damage around the knee rather than a major ligament rupture.

City boss Maresca said: “In the first moment we expected an even worse injury, so we were more worried, but after the scan we feel much better.

“It is not so big like we expected. It could be eight weeks. Now the most important thing is to recover it.

“When he is back, probably around December, we will have a new player.”

Semenyo’s absence could be more keenly felt if top scorer Erling Haaland does not prove his fitness for Tuesday’s Champions League clash against AEK Athens or beyond.

Semenyo has been considered the most obvious alternative to Haaland as centre-forward since the departure of Omar Marmoush to Tottenham in the summer.

Haaland scored twice against Ipswich but was limping by the end of the game after taking a blow to the foot.

Maresca is hoping the Norwegian will be able to feature.

“There’s a chance he could be available,” Maresca said at a press conference. “We will see.

“To replace Erling is always difficult, but we have some different options.

“We said that we can use Antoine as a nine, but also we have different players that we are going to try to find a new solution with.

“But at the moment it’s Erling. Why do we need to think of a different nine if Erling is there?”

Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly also suffered knocks against Ipswich, but Maresca said they were “more or less all OK”.

The visit of AEK will be City’s third home game in the space of a week and their fourth match overall since the club were found guilty of serious financial irregularities.

The team have so far shown little sign of being ruffled by the off-field controversy, while the fans have been notably defiant and shown strong backing for the club, who have appealed against the verdict.

Defender Marc Guehi said: “The team spirit has been fantastic from every single person, every player, especially the staff and fans that are backing us.

“We’ve got to see a lot of togetherness and it’s been great to see.”

Guehi only joined City in January but has had no problem placing his trust in the club.

He said: “Ever since I’ve got here they’ve been nothing but fantastic with me, the support I’ve had even in tough times on and off the pitch.

“I’m aware of the success the club has had in the past and I want to be part of the future success.

“You get the sense it’s a family club, people love one another and want to do the best for each other.”