Aymeric Laporte: Manchester City defender out for up to six months with knee injury

Aymeric Laporte will not return until January or February

Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte has been ruled out for five to six months after undergoing knee surgery.

The 25-year-old was stretchered off in City's win against Brighton before the international break and Pep Guardiola confirmed the extent of his injury.

When asked how long Laporte will be out for, Guardiola said: "Long. Five months, six months. Next year sure, January or February."

0:26 Leroy Sane is back in Manchester for rehabilitation after an ACL injury Leroy Sane is back in Manchester for rehabilitation after an ACL injury

Another player who suffered a serious knee injury was Leroy Sane, picking up an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the Community Shield win against Liverpool in August.

It was initially feared the 23-year-old winger would miss the whole season, however, Guardiola confirmed he will be back most likely in the beginning of 2020.

He said: "He is coming back before the end of the season. He got the injury in August, so in January or December - maybe February could be perfect.

"The surgery was good and he came back days ago. He is here with us doing his rehabilitation and hopefully he comes back especially well and soon."

Benjamin Mendy has made just 17 appearances in two seasons at City

There is a recurring theme of Manchester City knee injury news as a third player, Benjamin Mendy, has recovered from a knee injury suffered towards the end of last season.

The 25-year-old left-back's two-year spell in City colours has been littered with injuries, but Guardiola had some positive news regarding the France international.

Guardiola added: "He is good, he is training now. The last two or three weeks he has been training regularly with us and everything is going well. The knee is reacting well so hopefully in the next games he can start being back with us.

"After the last two seasons we want to be careful of him. We want to be sure when he starts to play because one issue is training sessions and another is high competition."

City will head to Norwich for Saturday Night Football at Carrow Road, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm.