Manchester City have confirmed that star right-back Lucy Bronze has undergone surgery on his right knee just two weeks before the new WSL season 2021/22 begins.
Bronze has suffered several knee injuries throughout his career but the operation is said to have been a success and FIFA’s best women’s player in 2020 will begin a rehab period at the club.
Although City expect them to resume training in the “near future”, Bronze will likely be in doubt before the start of what promises to be a historic WSL season.
The absence of the bronze could mean a run in the team for 20-year-old Esme Morgan. City have also used Olympic gold medalist Janine Beckie and even Georgia Stanway at right-back in the past.
City start their domestic season against West Ham on Saturday 4 August, just over two weeks away, in a game that will be broadcast live on BBC One as part of the league’s landmark for new television broadcasts worth over £ 7 million a year.
A few days earlier, City have already played their first competitive match of the season when they face an as yet unknown opponent in the first stage of a second qualifying round of the women’s Champions League.
A draw for the draw is made when the first qualifying round is over. City are among the seeded teams in the qualifiers in the league side and can be drawn against any of PSV Eindhoven, Bordeaux, Kristianstad, Hoffenheim, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Levante or Rosenborg, depending on which of them reaches the second round.
They could not be drawn against Arsenal, who are also in the “league” side of the first qualifying round and hope to move on, as both clubs come from the same domestic competition.
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