The French midfielder revealed today that he is out for another three months, with an unspecified injury, and published a photo of himself on crutches.
That would take Nasri through to the start of the last 16 matches in the elite European competition – the first legs will be played on February 16, 17, 23 and 24.
Kelechi was left out of the 25-man squad for the group stages, as he was the odd man out as Manuel Pellegrini has 18 overseas players and only room for 17 in the squad quota.
Since that decision was taken, in late August, Nasri has been hit by injury problems – he was expected back after a month out with a hamstring problem, but now faces a lengthy lay-off.
Clubs are allowed to tweak their squads during the winter transfer window, but City will not rush into any decision.
In fact, given Nasri's problem, they are likely to leave it until the end of January before considering the matter.
Kelechi has impressed onlookers, and City's management team,
but Pellegrini is keen to protect him from too much exposure at an early stage.
And with Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Bony both having injury
problems recently, City's shortage of strikers has been exposed.
The same cannot be said in midfield, where the arrival of Kevin de Bruyne, impending return of David Silva, as well as bright performances from Raheem Sterling and Jesus Navas have pushed Nasri down the pecking order.
Culled from ManchesterEveningNews
