Stevan Jovetic has been replaced by Wilfried Bony in Manchester City’s Champions League squad for the upcoming knockout stages, putting his future, at last season’s champions, in doubt.
Having arrived in a A?25m deal from Swansea City in what was the most expensive English transfer of the window, Bony is yet to play for the Citizens as he is involved in the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast where he has helped his country reach the final against Ghana.
City face Barcelona in the first leg of the round of 16 at the Etihad on 24th February before visiting the Nou Camp three weeks later.
The current Champions League regulations dictate that Manchester City must name only 16 foreign players instead of the usual 17 and only 21 players in total since they breached UEFA’s Financial Fair Play restrictions. With the arrival of Bony, manager Manuel Pellegrini, complying with the UEFA regulations, has dropped Jovetic in favor of the Ghana International.
Jovetic has started just one game in Europe’s elite competition with Pellegrini clearly giving preference to Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko, moreover his frequent calf and hamstring problems have restricted him to just 11 starts in the Premier league since his A?22m move from Fiorentina back in 2013.
The former Partizan Belgrade player did not feature in the Champions League at all last season and the arrival of Bony has put his future at Manchester has been put in doubt. Although, Man City refused to loan Jovetic out in the January transfer window when he was the subject of interest from Italian giant Juventus, it is unlikely that they will hold on to him past the summer along with striker Edin Dzeko who has started just six games in the league.
Having flourished for five years at Fiorentina before his move to England in 2013, Jovetic’s move doesn’t seem to have worked out so far and having featured in just 18 games in 19 months since his arrival from Italy, he could be looking for new pastures that would guarantee him regular game time lest his talents are wasted away.