Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo will be out for up to three months after breaking a bone in his foot, manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed.
“Alvaro had surgery today (Tuesday) on his broken foot and he will probably be out for two or three months,” Pellegrini said, in comments reported on the club website.
“It is a blow for us because Alvaro is a very important member of our squad, so obviously we will miss him.”
Negredo, 28, fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot during City’s 2-1 win over Hearts in a friendly in Edinburgh on Friday.
He expressed fears about the extent of the injury on his Instagram account on Monday, writing: “I want to let you know that its going to be hard for the next few months, I fractured my 5th metatarsal and will be out a few months. I will be back stronger than ever. I will return with a vengeance.”
A three-month absence would rule him out of the first nine games of City’s Premier League title defence, as well as their first three Champions League group-phase fixtures.
Negredo signed from Sevilla last year for a fee of around £16 million ($27.3 million, 20.3 million euros).
The Spain international enjoyed a successful debut campaign at the Etihad Stadium, scoring 23 goals in 48 games in all competitions, although his form tailed off towards the end of the season.
City are currently on a pre-season tour of the United States and were due to play Sporting Kansas City in a friendly later on Wednesday.