Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is set for a spell on the sidelines after his club confirmed that the treble-winning manager had undergone back surgery earlier this week.
After suffering with back pain for a numbers of weeks, the Premier League side released a statement confirming that Guardiola had returned to his home city of Barcelona for surgery.
Although the Spaniard is expected to return to his duties on the touchline before the upcoming international break, it’s still to be seen how many Premier League matches he’ll miss in the mean time.
The reigning English top flight champions visits Sheffield United this weekend before they return home to face Fulham at the Etihad stadium on September 2.
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Where is Pep Guardiola?
On August 22, Manchester City released a statement in which they stated that manager Pep Guardiola had undergone an ’emergency’ but ‘minor’ operation on his back.
The procedure was undertaken in Barcelona as the Catalan manager had been suffering with ‘severe’ back pain for several weeks.
After overseeing wins against Burnley and Newcastle in the Premier League and victory in the UEFA Super Cup versus Sevilla, it seems as though Guardiola was unable to get through until September’s international break.
The club went on to announce that the operation, carried out by Dr Mireia Illueca, had been a success but that Guardiola would continue to “recover and rehabilitate in Barcelona” and as such, would miss a number of first-team matches as a result.
“Everyone at Manchester City wishes Pep a speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing him back in Manchester soon,” concluded the press release.
When is Pep Guardiola back?
After securing a famous treble with Manchester City last season as they won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, Guardiola will be desperate to get back onto the touchline as quickly as possible.
In the club’s statement, City announced that they were expecting the manager to miss the club’s next two Premier League matches versus Sheffield United and Fulham but that he would return before the upcoming international break.
This September’s international break is set to resume on Monday September 4th with no elite club matches taking place on the 8th/9th/10th of that weekend.
In the meantime, assistant manager Juanma Lillo will take charge of first-team training and will lead the team from the touchline.
After previously working under Guardiola between 2020 and 2022, Lillo re-joined City’s coaching staff back in August after former assistant Enzo Maresca left to become manager at Leicester City.
How many trophies has Pep Guardiola won?
After spells in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester, Guardiola has established himself as one of the most skilled and respected manager sin football history.
Winning a number of different title in charge of each club, the Spaniard has won 36 trophies in elite professional football following City’s triumph in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup on penalties.
As well as winning domestic league and cup titles throughout his career, Guardiola has also won the Champions League on three occasions – a tally that can only be beaten by current Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti (4) across the history of the sport.