Manchester United legend Gary Neville has insisted that Aymeric Laporte's injury will be hugely detrimental to Man City's title challenge, and questioned their business in the transfer market.
Laporte injured his knee in City's win over Brighton before the international break and is expected to be out of action for several months. Having sold Vincent Kompany to Anderlecht in the summer, the only available centre backs for the Citizens are John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville was concerned that his absence could have a major impact on City's title defence. He stated: "If Laporte's injury is a serious one, it is a big problem for City.
"I said a few weeks ago that I was struggling to understand why City didn't follow through on Harry Maguire with Kompany leaving the club. I thought Kompany won them the league in the last ten matches of last season when he played in all those games.
"Forget the Leicester moment which was just spectacular. I thought his leadership held them together at a time when Liverpool were applying pressure like you wouldn't believe. In terms of that leader-type figure, I think Laporte has got that.
"I think this will cost City points. To be fair, there is no one better in the world at coaching than Pep Guardiola, full stop. And there is no one better at making what would be make-shift centre backs as well."
Considering the impact it would have on the title race, Neville continued: "What I would say is if Laporte is out for a long time, I think it will cost City points because he is a dominant centre back.
"I saw him in Spain three times and he's a great player. It's a real worry for City. That's the one downer out of the weekend for City and if I was a City fan it would worry me in the short-term and the medium-term, depending on how long he was out for."
Source : 90min