Manchester City's Rayan Cherki, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
August 31, 2025 - 9:32 AM
BRIGHTON, England (AP) — Manchester City playmaker Rayan Cherki will be out for around two months because of injury, manager Pep Guardiola said Sunday, and has been replaced in the France squad by in-form Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike.
Around the same time as Guardiola was giving his injury diagnosis for Cherki, France was announcing that the midfielder has a torn left quadricep and was out of upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland.
Cherki, who joined City from Lyon in the offseason, picked up his injury in training this week and didn't play in his new team's 2-1 loss at Brighton on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Ekitike has scored in each of his first three games for Liverpool following an offseason move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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