Nastasic ruled out for 'three weeks'

After being carried off during Saturday's victory over Sunderland the news today indicates that Matija Nastasic will miss the opening of the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season:

The City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, faces being without Nastasic for the opening game at home to Newcastle United on 19 August. An MRI scan on Monday is expected to show he will be out for three weeks after sustaining an ankle injury in the 1-0 Asia Trophy final win over Sunderland.

Cue the inevitable slew of reports suggesting City will make a move in the transfer market for a central defender, with Real Madrid defender Pepe the one most commonly linked.

I'm not sure that the club will make such a knee jerk reaction to the news given Nastasic will in all likelihood return by the end of August. That is not to say that a move won't be made, but that it won't be driven by the injury, more a desire to strengthen the one area you could argue is somewhat light in depth.

That said, a trio of Vincent Kompany, Matija Nastasic, and Joleon Lescott is one you'd consider sufficient and Micah Richards/Javi Garcia as the fourth choice if need be is surely strength enough, given that of all the areas where you need the depth and the ability to rotate central defence has not historically been one of them.