Man City defender set to return to training in boost for Guardiola

Manchester City assistant manager Pep Lijnders has confirmed that captain Ruben Dias is set to return to training next week.

Lijnders spoke to the press ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Tottenham on Sunday, with manager Pep Guardiola absent due to a “personal matter”.

Rúben Dias has been sidelined since Manchester City’s 1-1 home draw with Chelsea at the start of January, a match in which fellow defender Josko Gvardiol also picked up an injury. Earlier this week, the 28-year-old was the victim of a home burglary.

Lijnders confirmed that the Portuguese defender will return to training on Monday. He said: “We try to support him as a club, of course. I didn’t speak with him personally at the moment. 

“What I can say is he will come back Monday to team training. These are the things you don’t want to happen. We will support him, and let’s see how it goes from there.”

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Jeremy Doku, meanwhile, was substituted during Manchester City’s 2-0 midweek win over Galatasaray, which secured their place in the top eight of the Champions League league phase, and he could face a spell on the sidelines.

Lijnders said: “It’s a similar injury to last time, only then it was on the lateral side, now it is in the centre. Last time it took 18 days, this time I presume it will be shorter. It’s in the middle one so we have to take time. He’s a robust player.”

Earlier today, Oscar Bobb’s move to Fulham was confirmed, with the winger joining the west London club for a reported fee of around £27M.

The winger has struggled for first team minutes but Lijnders was full of praise for the young Norwegian: “It’s insane, at this age to make a transfer like that into the Premier League,” he said. “I’m really happy for him. The way they set up, they will feed him a lot of balls. It’s a big compliment for our academy.”

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