Stefan Jovetic's Endless Injury Issues Are a Real Concern for Manchester City

Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic faces more injury concerns after appearing to limp out of Montenegro’s match with Liechtenstein on Thursday, according to Paul Pycroft at the Manchester Evening News.

He left the field after 75 minutes, with many suspecting a recurrence of his recent hamstring injury, but freelance football reporter Ben Dinnery suggested on Twitter it may have been a tactical switch with Jovetic suffering from cramp.

"

@wendy1704 Several reports were suggesting Jovetic limped off last night - I was told his substitution was tactical - suffering from cramp

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) October 10, 2014"

Either way, Jovetic’s long-term fitness remains a major concern for City. Having featured prominently in pre-season and impressing everyone with his form, he played in City’s first three league matches and looked to have finally overcome the injury problems which affected him so badly last season.

But then a hamstring injury suffered while on international duty with Montenegro in early September saw him miss City’s next five games in all competitions. He came on for 10 minutes against Roma in City's 1-1 draw but didn’t feature in the win over Aston Villa last weekend, and City boss Manuel Pellegrini will now be hoping his latest scare is nothing serious.

It’s clear Jovetic has the potential to be one of the best and most exciting Premier League players, but, so far during his time in England, he has failed to prove his quality consistently due to a succession of injuries.

Last season he managed just 20 appearances, many of which were as a substitute, and despite impressing almost every time he played, he struggled to gain any kind of momentum due to the intermittent nature of his muscle injuries.

It’s hugely frustrating for Pellegrini who knows full well he has a star on his hands. Speaking before City’s match with Liverpool earlier in the season, Pellegrini told reporters:

“I think Stevan is playing very well. He is in a very good moment with us and I hope he will continue in the same way because he is a very important and very good player for us.

“I always say my players are the best players in the Premier League and we have the strongest squad, not only attackers but also defending and in the whole squad.

“He has a lot of movement and if you review what happened last season every time he went from the bench on the pitch he always scored.

“He is a very good finisher and we will see the real Stevan Jovetic this season.”

So far, though, it’s been a similar picture to last season. When he plays, Jovetic looks excellent, but it seems his injury proneness is yet to fully disappear.

The problem City have is that with Alvaro Negredo now at Valencia, they only have three strikers to choose from. With the flexibility of David Silva, who is able to move inside into a withdrawn forward role, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but fitness concerns over Jovetic and team-mate Sergio Aguero remain an issue.

Aguero spent the second half of last season struggling for fitness, and although he appears to have put much of that behind him, there’s still a reluctance from Pellegrini to play him three times in a week.

City need both Jovetic and Aguero fit if they want to achieve their ambitions this season.

Jovetic is different to any other forward at the club, with his intensity and willingness to take risks a huge asset when on display. A run of games is now needed to show everybody what he is capable of.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.