Rayan Cherki faces two months on the sidelines after suffering an injury, ruling him out of France’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Cherki was absent for Manchester City’s 2-1 loss to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday due to the injury.
Pep Guardiola confirmed in a post-match interview that the Frenchman faced “seven or eight weeks” on the sidelines, and as such will be expected to return in early November.
According to France’s official X account, Cherki has sustained a “quadriceps tear” and has dropped out of Didier Deschamps’ squad for the matches against Ukraine and Iceland.
Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike, who has netted three goals since his big-money move to the Premier League champions, has received a maiden call-up to the national team.
Cherki signed for City in June for an initial fee of £30.5m from Lyon and netted during their run to the last 16 of the Club World Cup.
He also scored on his Premier League debut, a 4-0 rout against Wolves, before starting the loss to Tottenham last weekend.