Man City's transfer change of heart is paying off already after Kyle Walker injury

Not much has gone wrong for Manchester City so far this season but if there's one negative is that luck has not been on their side, injury-wise.

While Erling Haaland's remarkable start to life at City has all but guaranteed that the juggernaut will go on and claim more silverware this summer, fellow summer signing Kalvin Phillips couldn't have had a worse start. The defensive midfielder was recruited to replace Fernandinho but has managed just 14 minutes of action so far as he has been troubled with injuries.

A repeated shoulder problem afflicted him once again during the friendly with Barcelona and Phillips had to finally go under the knife to rectify the issue, which will sideline him for a number of weeks and makes him a serious doubt for the World Cup. Aymeric Laporte started the campaign in the treatment room as he went under his own surgery in May after playing through the pain towards the end of last season.

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His centre-back colleagues Nathan Ake and John Stones have both suffered various knocks and now the biggest blow of all comes in the shape of Kyle Walker. After already missing a couple of games with an injury, the right-back returned to action during the international break unscathed and then started in Sunday's Manchester derby.

But he had to be taken off before the half-time whistle — no doubt leaving every Manchester United player jealous of his early escape — and it transpires it's quite serious this time. The right-back has had to have surgery himself to fix a groin problem on his left leg. He's set for several weeks of rehabilitation and also looks unlikely to be fit in time for this winter's tournament.

Walker has been