Pep Guardiola given warning over Man City player

Aymeric Laporte returned from injury to make a cameo appearance in Sunday’s 6-3 win over Manchester United and played a full 90 minutes in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Copenhagen, but Alan Hutton has warned Pep Guardiola that the 28-year-old will need time to find his feet after a lengthy layout.

Laporte picked up a knee injury at the end of last season and underwent surgery to fix the problem, but it ruled him out of action until October. He’s missed 11 games across the board, playing just twice since May, so Hutton predicts the Spanish international will take time to find his feet.

He told Football Insider: “It is obviously going to take time. He has been out for a while, (so) he is going to have to get the rust off.” Laporte made 44 appearances across the board last season, scoring four goals. He was a regular at centre-back but has competition from Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and John Stones this campaign, so it won’t be easy to nail down a starting place.

It was a surprise to see Laporte come off the bench over the weekend and Guardiola would have been delighted to see the 28-year-old get through unscathed on Wednesday, but City won’t want to risk a setback in his recovery. Ake has been an able replacement for the Spaniard this season, so he’s an option at the back for Saturday’s meeting with Southampton.

Time will tell what Guardiola does, however.

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