Manchester City were anxiously waiting to discover the severity of an injury to Vincent Kompany today after their captain and defensive linchpin was sent for a scan by Belgium amid concerns about his calf.
Marc Wilmots, the Belgium coach, tweeted this morning that Kompany will not train with the squad today as they await the results of tests. The defender will miss Belgium’s friendly against Australia at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Liege tomorrow evening.
Kompany has been plagued by injuries in recent years and endured a severely disrupted campaign last season as the centre-half wrestled with a series of hamstring, thigh and calf problems.
The prospect of losing Kompany for a prolonged period would be a severe blow to City, especially with the club facing a critical run of fixtures over the next 2½ weeks.
City play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday week before travelling to Germany to face Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League group game four days later. Chelsea then visit the Etihad Stadium in the league four days after that.
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Kompany’s absence would force Manuel Pellegrini, the City manager, to throw in Eliaquim Mangala, the club’s new £31.9 million signing from Porto. The France defender has yet to make his debut for City and is short of match fitness.
Bad Kompany: the medical report
September 2014 – calf injury: Sent for calf scan while on Belgium duty. Unable to train with squad and unlikely to feature against Australia in tomorrow evening’s friendly.
June 2014 – groin injury: Struggled with the injury throughout the World Cup and then pulled groin at end of Belgium’s 2-1 group win over Algeria. Missed two days training but recovered in time to face Russia only to miss the last group match against South Korea. Helped Belgium reach quarter-finals after seeing off USA, although arguably not fully fit.
April 2014 – knee injury: Limped off training field with knee injury after landing awkwardly following an aerial challenge. Feared he would miss the upcoming trip to Anfield, yet featured in City’s 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.
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February 2014 – hamstring injury: Tweaked hamstring during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Barcelona. Featured against Stoke the following weekend with heavy strapping worn around problem area.
October 2013 – thigh strain: Suffered thigh strain in City’s 3-1 win over Everton and limped off after 34 minutes. Also withdrew from Belgium’s World Cup qualifying squad, missing away match against Croatia. Unable to play for a month.
August 2013 – groin injury: Sidelined for four weeks after picking up groin injury against Newcastle. Limped off after 71 minutes during City’s convincing 4-0 win.
June 2013 – facial/head injuries: Suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket and concussion in a World Cup qualifying match against Serbia, but played on.
May 2013 – calf injury: Missed his side’s final two games of the season with a recurring calf problem picked up in January.
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January 2013 – calf injury: Injured his calf in a 1-0 FA Cup win at Stoke and replaced by Clichy after 40 minutes. Missed a large portion of the second half of the season.