Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola flew to Barcelona to undergo surgery for his severe back pain. The manager will be absent from the sidelines for City’s next two Premier League matches.
The club statement read, “The manager has been suffering from severe back pain lately and he flew to Barcelona to be operated on by Doctor Mireia Illueca. The surgery was a success and Pep will now recover and rehabilitate in Barcelona.”
Pep Guardiola will reportedly continue rehabilitating in Barcelona for the time being. He is, however, expected to return to the sidelines after the international break and will miss City’s clash against Sheffield United on the weekend and their match against Fulham on September 2.
Pep Guardiola has today undergone a routine operation on a back problem.
Everyone at Manchester City wishes Pep a speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing him back in Manchester soon.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 22, 2023
During his absence, assistant manager, Juanma Lillo will take charge of the Manchester City squad. Lillo returned to the Manchester City backroom as an assistant coach earlier this month after his managerial spell at Qatari team Al-Sadd.
This will not be the first time that the English team will be performing in the absence of their manager, Pep Guardiola. Both Guardiola and assistant coach Lillo were ruled out of the FA Cup third-tier round in 2022 after contracting coronavirus.
City won the game 4-1 despite missing both their head coach and assistant coach. Therefore, fans would be hoping for similar results in the absence of the Spanish manager.
Pep Guardiola has ‘important decisions’ to make before the transfer deadline day
The 52-year-old assessed his current Manchester City team ahead of the transfer Deadline Day. The former Barcelona manager explained how the team would need every player fit for the rest of the season if they wanted to win titles this season as well.
Guardiola explained, “We will need everyone with this schedule and calendar. Over the next one or two the club have to take some important decisions with the squad. We didn’t expect with Kevin and we didn’t expect with Riyad to leave but I have a feeling we’ve spoken about that.”
🚨💣| Kevin De Bruyne will not be able to play again in 2023!
The Belgian is expected to undergo surgery after his new hamstring injury.
Manchester City don’t want him to relapse again and the doctors have recommended this option. [@ladh] pic.twitter.com/rPOA4eiTtD
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) August 15, 2023
He further went on, “We are who we are. A lot of young players on the bench and that’s the difference. Okay, we are a few people – the guys who want to be here are here and let’s try and do it.”
The treble winners lost both Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez this summer. They will also miss their star player, Kevin De Bruyne, for the first half of the season. Moreover, John Stones would also be out of play for the next three weeks due to a muscle injury. City fans would, therefore, hope for the addition of new players to the current squad.