Antoine Semenyo is out for up to eight weeks after suffering a collateral knee injury during Manchester City's 3-2 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday. Manager Enzo Maresca confirmed the injury is ligament-related rather than muscular, framing December as a realistic return window. The Ghanaian international had been brought on as a 77th-minute substitute — an attempt to manage his workload that ended badly. Maresca was philosophical about the timing. "We tried to save him, we tried to keep him fresh, just give him some minutes, he didn't play a lot, but sometimes things happen we cannot control," he said. Semenyo had contributed two goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, and his pace off the bench had become a reliable weapon in City's second-half surges. Erling Haaland's fitness is the more immediate concern. The Norwegian took a knock to his foot and ankle in stoppage time against Ipswich and remains a doubt for Tuesday's Champions League home match against AEK Athens. Maresca said Haaland trained on Monday and appeared improved, but a final decision would come after Tuesday's session. The striker has scored 12 goals in his last eight appearances and remains the fulcrum of City's attack. City's Champions League campaign needs a result. A 4-2 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain last week left them 17th in the table with three points from two matches — a precarious position for a club with continental ambitions. Maresca described the Ipswich performance as a "quite good" response to the PSG defeat and wants to carry that into Europe. If Haaland is unavailable, Maresca pointed to Phil Foden as one option at centre-forward, though he was careful to note it would not be the only solution. City's domestic form — seven straight Premier League wins — provides a cushion, but the squad depth question grows louder with Semenyo's absence confirmed. The manager's broader message was one of managed expectations: injuries happen, the squad is equipped to absorb them, and December will bring Semenyo back "like a new player." Whether that optimism holds depends on how the next eight weeks unfold across two demanding competitions.
