Man City midfielder withdraws from international duty with injury

Jacob Wright has returned to Manchester City for treatment after picking up an injury with England Under-20s.

Wright, 19, was one of three Blues selected in the squad this month but did not feature in the 2-1 win over Italy earlier this week that saw former City youngster Darko Gyabi get on the scoresheet. It was then confirmed at the weekend that Wright would not remain with the squad for their second game of the window.

Pep Guardiola made clear this season that he wanted Wright to stay at the club this summer rather than going out on loan, believing that he had the potential to be around the first team training regularly with them and pushing for opportunities. That made the player's mind up for him, ending any chance of him leaving.

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"There was obviously temptation - there always is going to be - but when the manager and staff around him want you to stay and be around that first team there's not much of a choice," Wright said. "There's no temptation any longer when you get the information that they want you to stay and be around it because they see you as someone that could be around it. The temptation went out the window as soon as I heard that: I was staying for the season."

Wright had enjoyed a productive start to his season, scoring five goals in nine appearances for academy teams including a brace at Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Youth League. He and City will hope that the injury does not keep him out for too long as he looks to build on that and repay the faith Guardiola has shown him.