Manchester City could increase their efforts to sign Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle after Oscar Bobb suffered a serious injury in training.
The 21-year-old Norway international fractured a bone in his leg in a non-contact situation when he was turning.
City are set to assess the full extent of the injury and it is possible he will fly to Barcelona to have further treatment.
Bobb, who joined City from Valerenga in 2019, has impressed for Pep Guardiola s side during pre-season and played 89 minutes of the Community Shield win against Manchester United.
Bobb was expected to feature in their Premier League opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday with a number of City’s international players having only just returned to training this week,
Bobb made 26 appearances for City last season and signed a new five-year contract in February but is now set to miss several months of the season.
Guardiola has been coy on further City signings this summer with Savinho the only player to join thus far in a £21m move from Girona.
But the injury to Bobb could now force them into the market, with a report in .
The initial message coming out of City this time last week was that they are happy with what they’ve got, but they are exploring the market for another player in case they can find somebody who meets their criteria.
Not that doing so will be easy: Guardiola says they are looking for a top-class, versatile player who is content with not playing every match and is not that expensive. They found that two years ago in Manuel Akanji, so it is possible, but it is hardly an easy task.
It may be the case that interest in Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes is resurrected, which would obviously be a more expensive move. Finding an agreement between the two clubs could be difficult, if not impossible, but City believe the Brazil midfielder is still keen to join them.
City are looking across several different areas of the pitch: on Friday, Guardiola talked about a Rodri alternative who can also play further forward, or further back, or a striker who can also play as an attacking midfielder or a winger.
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