Manchester City have confirmed that Raheem Sterling will miss Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham due to a hamstring injury, sustained during his side’s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
There remains uncertainty over the extent of the 25-year-old winger’s injury, amid fears he could be ruled out for up to four weeks. That would leave Sterling unavailable for the first leg of City’s Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid.
The club tweeted: “Raheem Sterling will miss our game against West Ham this weekend after scans revealed he has suffered damage to his left hamstring. Everyone at City wishes [Raheem] a full and speedy recovery”.
Sterling’s injury coincides with the club’s mid-season break, which begins after the Hammers game and lasts for almost two weeks. City then travel to Leicester on 22 February, before visiting the Bernabéu four days later.
Pep Guardiola will be keen to have Sterling fit and firing by then, with a testing run of fixtures to follow the trip to Spain. He may at least be able to call on Leroy Sané, who has been sidelined with a knee injury sustained in the Community Shield.
After the Carabao Cup final against Aston Villa on 1 March, City travel to Hillsborough for an FA Cup fifth-round tie in midweek, and then Old Trafford for the Manchester derby on Sunday 8 March.