Samir Nasri injury: Manchester City midfielder needs groin surgery and could be out for a month

Frenchman has been struggling with injury in recent weeks

Samir Nasri believes Chelsea and Manchester United will pose the biggest threat this season to Manchester City (Getty Images)

Manchester City will be without Samir Nasri for up to a month with the French midfielder needing groin surgery.

Nasri, 27, has been unable to play in recent weeks; he was an unused substitute against Chelsea last weekend and missed the Capital One Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday.

Surgery could keep Nasri out for up to five matches, with the 25 October match against West Ham a potential return.

“It’s serious because he will have surgery in the next days. He will be out for around one month,” City manager Manue lPellegrini said.

“He was training but he wasn’t 100 per cent and he wasn’t comfortable with what he was doing so the doctor decided it was the best option.

“Of course he’s a very important player for us and it’s not easy for us to play without Samir but I never give excuses about players that, for different reasons, are not in our squad. We have an important squad.”

After being a peripheral member of the squad under Roberto Mancini, Nasri became a key performer for Pellegrini last season.

He played in 34 Premier League matches last season, scoring seven goals and adding seven assists as City won the Premier League title.