Stevan Jovetic is expected to discover on Tuesday if the hamstring injury he suffered training with Montenegro at the weekend will rule him out of Manchester City’s visit to Arsenal on Saturday.
The striker was returned to City by his national team and is expected back in Manchester on Monday evening. Whether Jovetic will require a scan on the problem has yet to be determined, with City’s medical staff still to examine the forward.
As Álvaro Negredo is on loan at Valencia Jovetic’s latest injury will be a concern for Manuel Pellegrini. The manager’s only other striking options are Edin Dzeko and Sergio Agüero, who Pellegrini has been nursing back to match condition. The Argentinian started his first match of the season in City’s last outing, the 1-0 defeat to Stoke City at the Etihad Stadium, with Agüero having scored twice when coming on as replacement, in the wins over Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Dzeko has yet to score for City though he did register in last week’s 3-0 win for Bosnia over Liechtenstein.
Ivan Radovic, Montenegro’s press officer, said. “Stevan Jovetic has a hamstring injury and has returned to City. He can’t play [on Monday] against Moldova. All I know is that he is unavailable for this game. He suffered the problem in training, trying to catch a faster ball.”
Jovetic has been plagued by injuries since joining City in summer 2013. The latest problem is a third hamstring problem since December and the 24-year-old has also had a calf injury and been struck by illness.
He managed only 20 appearances last season but did score eight goals and Pellegrini has regularly mentioned him as an important player in the attempt to emulate Manchester United and Chelsea as the only teams to retain the Premier League crown.
Jovetic enjoyed a fine display in City’s 3-1 win over Liverpool at the end of August, scoring twice. Yet given the 1-0 home defeat to Stoke, Pellegrini will hope to have the Montenegrin available as he seeks to ensure City can bounce back straightaway against Arsenal.
City lost 3-0 to Arsène Wenger’s side in the Community Shield final at Wembley, though Pellegrini’s team were missing many regular starters owing to their recovery from World Cup commitments.
Expensive: Last summer's spending spree saw City buy Negredo and Navas on the way to the title
Still spending: The Etihad outfit have continued to purchase high profile stars since being finedA similar sum will be distributed to clubs who comply with the FFP rules in this season's European competitions.European Clubs' Association chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said UEFA had agreed the fines should go to the other clubs.He told a news conference in Geneva: 'It was an agreement between UEFA and the clubs that it was money belonging to the clubs.'The clubs will have a chance to argue any changes to FFP rules at a meeting with UEFA on October 13.
Advantage: The money City have been fined will be redistributed to other Champions League clubs
Paying power: Despite staying within the constraints Arsenal managed to buy Alexis Sanchez from BarcaUEFA president Michel Platini said in his speech to the ECA: 'The framework for financial fair play must be dynamic, it must evolve constantly, which is why I have convened an important round table on the subject with your representatives at UEFA headquarters on 13 October.'We will see whether any imperfections can be ironed out and whether there is room to further improve the system.'
Buying: Manchester City owner Sheikh mansour shows no sign of stopping his spending spree
Selling: Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insists his side have had to become a selling club due to the rules
