The Manchester City winger Oscar Bobb faces a period on the sidelines after fracturing a bone in a leg in training. The full extent of the injury is not known and is still being assessed by the club’s medical staff.
The 21-year-old Norwegian impressed in the Community Shield win against Manchester United on Saturday, creating the equaliser for Bernardo Silva, and was poised for a more prominent role in the team after being a bit-part player last season.
Bobb made 14 Premier League appearances last season, scoring a memorable injury-time winner against Newcastle in January. He was a regular during City’s pre-season tour to the US, earning a starting position at Wembley. City begin their Premier League campaign on Sunday with a trip to Chelsea and Bobb was likely to start following his performances over the summer.
“We want more,” Pep Guardiola said after the Community Shield. “The actions in the final third he has to do more regularly. Sometimes he has the chance to take the ball and go and he is a little bit passive, but he has something unique. From a stop, the first steps right and left are unbelievable. The action for the goal, he is behind the ball and how he turned and made the cross is a huge quality.
“He has an incredible work ethic, his intensity in pressing and reading to defend is really good, but he’s still young. Still he has the ability to do it, he has to do it more regularly.”
Bobb joined City from Vålerenga in 2019 and progressed through the ranks, making his Premier League debut against Fulham in September 2023 and his senior international bow the following month.
City have great faith in him, helping them to make the decision to sell Cole Palmer last summer, and gave him a new contract in February which will run to the end of the 2028‑29 season.
Having sold the Argentinian striker Julián Álvarez to Atlético Madrid for £81.5m this week, City were already contemplating entering the market for a new attacker and the loss of Bobb could intensify the search for someone to bolster the ranks, but Guardiola has warned the club will not overpay for anyone.
City can still call upon Silva, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, James McAtee, Jérémy Doku and the new signing Savinho, but with a hectic schedule it may be deemed necessary to make an addition.