Jean-Philippe Mateta Injuries

'So, we will have further assessments. He will see one more doctor on Monday, and then we all sit together and take a final decision. To be honest, there are two ways how we can do it... Either manage the knee until the World Cup, or the other one, undergo surgery. That is what we don't know right now... Doing a surgery could be out for two or three months, 6-9 months, we don't know right now.' 'He won't play on Sunday at Brighton, and he won't play against Burnley.' 'Fortunately, he doesn't need surgery. So, the knee injury doesn't look as bad as feared. And so we think - this is the opinion from several specialists and doctors - that we can deal with the knee in a better way than surgery. He will miss a certain time - I can't say two weeks, three weeks, four weeks...' 'JP is now in his rehab process. I hope he will be back in the next two or three weeks.' 'It's a tough time for him. He's been out for four weeks now doing rehab so that we can control his knee, and he's getting stability back. He will return to help us win games - that's JP's nature. He's working hard now in rehab.' 'We're planning for him to be partly integrated next Monday in the team training... He was out for a long time, but his knee looks better now. We have to be careful, but the goal is that he is available for the Larnaca and Leeds games.' 'JP (Mateta) started to train with us on Monday, and he will be in the squad [if] everything goes in the right direction.' 'No, [he is not ready for 90 minutes] - he didn't train for 5/6 weeks on the pitch, and he's now back for three days, so no chance.' 'We have just one league game and one UECL game [this month]. It was the plan now to get him back and give him a few minutes... Then, we have three weeks. We'll use the three weeks to get him into a better shape and into a better rhythm.'

'JP will not be in the matchday squad - he's not in the right place right now. And it makes no sense [to involve him] because we need to protect the team, and I have to protect him. That's why he will not travel tomorrow to Nottingham.'

'JP will rest. He came back with a minor injury from the French national team, and we had to manage his knee the whole time. There was a little bit of swelling, and he just didn't feel well. The plan is that he will return to training on Friday, and then he should be available.' 'We hope that JP and Sarr are available for the game... Of course, we need to train with them and see if there is any reaction, but it looks good and looks OK right now. It will give us a few more options, and it's important to have these options vs City.'

'JP came back with a minor knee issue from [playing with] France, but trained today with no issues, so he's also fit, so all good news.'

'He's at hospital now and has a serious ear injury, but fingers are crossed that it's not too serious. I think he will definitely miss the Ipswich game, but I still hope that he's available for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the end of March, so four weeks' time.' 'Mateta has been discharged from St George’s Hospital, where he received specialist treatment and 25 stitches to a severe laceration to his left ear. All scans were clear, and JP is feeling well. He will now rest and recuperate where his progress will be monitored by our club doctor.' 'His recovery is going well. He had no fractures or concussion. Healing from the huge wound is going as we expected. He will go to Marbella with us next week and train individually. If everything goes how we wish, he will be available [after the Int' break].' 'Hopefully, I can play (vs Fulham). Hopefully, you never know. Hopefully, they will see me. I’m in the ground every day. The doctor is the person; he will decide. I will wear a mask, I think so.' 'He trains now for two weeks with us, of course, always with his protection. We had an internal game during the international break, and he could play 60 minutes without any problems, so he's ready.' 'JP is fine. I think we could see that he didn't have a game for four weeks, so he was a little bit out of the rhythm. These 60-65 minutes helped him to get back into the rhythm. Today, [in] training, he had a better one than maybe last week. It looks like he's getting back into his rhythm, and that's very positive.'

'We had many ill players this week, or many question marks. Until today, JP (Mateta), Maxence Lacroix and Tyrick Mitchell didn’t train.'

'He’s on the bench tomorrow, and there is a good chance we will see him through the course of the game.'

"He’s in the squad but I’m not prepared to say at the moment whether he’s starting or not, that will have to remain a surprise one way or another."