No quotes nor any sauce....but not what I wanted to hear
The 20 year-old has managed just 33 minutes in a Manchester City shirt since his £22 million transfer from Inter Milan last month.
Having sustained the injury in the closing stages of the 1-0 Europa League victory against FC Timisoara in Romania on Aug 19, in which he scored after coming on as a substitute, the damage had initially been dismissed by the player as a persistent cartilage problem.
But a period of rest failed to resolve the injury and Balotelli underwent surgery in Italy last week after tests highlighted damage to the lateral meniscus.
Initial optimism that the Italy forward would be fit to return within six weeks has now been dashed, however, following a routine post-operation examination at the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia on Monday.
Balotelli has now been told to expect a recovery period of eight to 10 weeks, with more pessimistic forecasts suggesting a January return could be the worst-case scenario.
With fellow striker Emmanuel Adebayor troubled by a hamstring injury and both Roque Santa Cruz and Jo struggling to convince manager Roberto Mancini of their value to the team, Balotelli’s injury problems are likely to increase the pressure on Carlos Tevez to shoulder the goalscoring burden.
If Balotelli returns within eight to nine weeks, he could yet feature in the Manchester derby at Eastlands on Nov 10. But a return against Birmingham three days later or Fulham on Nov 21 appear more realistic targets following the assessment of his rehabilitation schedule.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... clash.html?
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