Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he envisions Mateo Kovacic playing an important role upon his return from injury.
Kovacic underwent ankle surgery in November 2025 and has recently returned on-pitch individual training as Manchester City vie for silverware on four fronts in the remainder of the campaign.
The 31-year-old spent the early stages of the season on the sidelines after having surgery done on his Achilles last summer, with the midfielder expected to be phased in gradually into the first-team fold when he does return to match fitness.
Add Rodri’s injury troubles in the last 18 months to the equation and it would be fair to say Manchester City have had it far from easy personnel-wise in the holding midfield position since the back end of the 2024-25 season.
Kovacic is still far away from playing for the Manchester City first-team but ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round meeting with Salford City, Guardiola was quizzed about the Croatia international’s ability in getting past opponents under pressure.
“Absolutely, I completely agree. Absolutely,” the Manchester City manager said in a press conference on Friday afternoon. “I missed him a lot because his ability in short passes. I remember last season when we played without proper wingers, we played with a lot of players inside with Bernardo (Silva), Rodri, him.
“This connection, these three, with Jeremy (Doku) or Phil (Foden) or whatever, that was magnificent how they had the ability to break this one against one, dribble the opponent, and attack the next line. And Kova (Kovacic), I already missed him a lot.
“Last game he played was in Fulham, I think so, before the (Club) World Cup, to try to make a surgery to be in that season fit and unfortunately it was not well – and now I spoke with him in the last days and he said he feels really, really good comparing the first surgery and the second. Hopefully he can help us in the last part of the season.”
On how long it could take Kovacic to return to his best, Guardiola added: “I think to have continuity, game, game, (every) three days, three days it will take time.
“As much as you can have one day, one game, minutes or one game in the beginning, after recovery, another one, as much as you can select good minutes – Kovacic is a special player, special quality, mentality, another player in the biggest stages that is so brave, so good.
“First, for his health, for his life, to play football again – that is what we want. Kova is an important player that we miss a lot.”
Rodri is set to be handed a timely rest on Saturday in the FA Cup, with Nico Gonzalez expected to orchestrate the midfield as Manchester City look to extend their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions against Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.