Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca laments Antoine Semenyo’s injury blow

Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted that losing Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo to injury is a setback for the club, as the attacker faces an eight-week spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Semenyo picked up the injury during Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday.

He made a substitute appearance for Manchester City in the high-stakes clash, replacing Belgian-Ghanaian forward Jeremy Doku in the 77th minute.

The 26-year-old has made a positive impact since the start of the 2026/27 campaign, scoring two goals and providing three assists in nine appearances across competitions.

Speaking ahead of City’s Champions League clash against AEK Athens, Maresca expressed his disappointment at losing the Ghana international but insisted the team would explore alternative solutions in attack.

“First of all, to lose Antoine or any player for us is not good,” Maresca said.

Semenyo was identified as one of the players that could play as a striker to give Erling Haaland an opportunity to take a break.

But Maresca has other options in attack as the club aim to build on a strong start to the campaign.

“In terms of Erling, we said we can use Antoine as a nine but we have different players that we are going to try to find a new solution. We will see.

“At the moment it’s Erling. Why do we need to think about a different nine when Erling is there? If something happens and we need a different plan or different nine, we will see.”