Alvaro Negredo
Getty

Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo will miss the next two to three months after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his foot, the player has confirmed.

The Spaniard was forced to leave the pitch with a foot injury before the half-time during Manchester City's friendly 2-1 victory over Hearts – having earlier rendered an assist for Scott Sinclair's goal.

Negredo himself has confirmed he has broken the fifth metatarsal trough his Instagram account and even though the club are yet to make an official statement over his injury it is understood he will be out of action for almost three months.

The Spanish striker will miss the Manchester City pre-season tour of United States which will start with a match against Sporting Kansas City.

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Furthermore, he is expected to miss at least the first four Premier League games of the season with crucial ties against Newscastle, Stoke, Liverpool and Chelsea and the opening Champions League game.

The news is a big blow for Manuel Pellegrini but it looks uncertain whether he will consider bolstering his attack as he also has Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic to fall back on.

Last season Negredo was not Pellegrini's first-choice in attack with recent reports claiming he was likely to return to Spain – with both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid interested in securing his services.

Negredo himself has ruled out that possibility claiming he was just focusing on having a good pre-season and to regain a place in City's starting line-up.

"I don't want to leave City, I'm very happy and settled here. I had a difficult end to the season and that's why there's been a lot of talking. But I've been very happy from the first day I arrived," he said.