Injured Manchester City star pushing for Carabao Cup return

Gabriel Jesus wants to make his Manchester City comeback in the Carabao Cup final on 25 February but faces a race against time to prove his fitness, reports The Guardian.

The Brazil international has missed City’s last 11 matches after suffering a knee injury against Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve.

Pep Guardiola had hoped Jesus would have recovered in time to feature in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over FC Basel but the youngster has not even returned to training.

City have struggled to identify how severe Jesus’ knee injury is but the 20-year-old is hoping to return to first-team action before the end of the month.

Sergio Aguero is the only recognised striker available to Guardiola at the moment but the Argentina international has thrived in Jesus’ absence.

The 29-year-old has scored 14 goals in 11 appearances in 2018 in all competitions but Jesus’ return would certainly benefit City in their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple.

Jesus, meanwhile, has struggled to rediscover the startling goalscoring form he showed in the second half of last season.

The Brazilian is currently without a goal in his last 603 minutes of action, last netting in November (vs Leicester).