Ghana confirm Semenyo staying in Manchester
Antoine Semenyo will not join up with Ghana for their latest round of international fixtures. The Ghana FA president, Kurt Okraku, has confirmed the winger is staying in Manchester to receive treatment on a leg injury.
Ghana had included Semenyo in their plans for African Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Ivory Coast and Gambia, plus a friendly with Morocco. Those plans now change.
"Antoine and the coach spoke. He told the coach, 'If you need me, I will come down for the medical team to re-examine me. But the truth is that my leg is swollen, and we need to treat it.'"
Okraku's explanation leaves the injury in that familiar grey area. Swollen leg, treatment needed, no timeline attached. City's medical staff will do their work and everyone else waits.
Three weeks to find fitness
Semenyo is 26 and has the best part of three weeks to recover full fitness before Enzo Maresca's side travel to Anfield for their next Premier League fixture. Whether that is enough time is anyone's guess. The exact prognosis has not been made public.
Maresca already has one attacking absence locked in. Phil Foden is serving a three-match ban for violent conduct after his sending-off against Manchester United earlier this month. Losing Foden for the trip to Merseyside was already a headache. Losing Semenyo as well would turn it into something closer to a migraine.
Liverpool's own casualty list
Liverpool have their own fitness concerns. Federico Chiesa is hoping to be available after a back issue. Giovanni Leoni is building up match fitness after a year out with an ACL injury, though the game may come too soon for him.
Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike are already ruled out of the fixture, with knee and Achilles problems respectively. So neither manager will be picking from a full deck.
For City, the next few weeks are about monitoring a swollen leg and hoping the swelling goes down. Not the most glamorous international break, but a significant one.