The 30-year-old suffered knee ligament damage during last week’s 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace and, after being assessed by the club’s medical staff - as well as the highly-regarded Dr Ramon Cugat in Barcelona - the Belgian now looks set for an extended period on the sidelines.
“Dr Cugat confirmed what the doctors here said,” Guardiola said. “He will be four to six weeks out.”
Guardiola ruled out using Yaya Toure in a defensive role, saying he plans to use the Ivorian in positions higher up the pitch to maximise his impact.
The City boss says he has plenty of defensive options at his disposal to deal with Kompany’s absence.
“Yaya can play in many positions but I think we have other options to play there at centre-back. He played there in Barcelona once, the Champions League final against Manchester United, because we have a lot of problems there. We didn’t have players. He played amazing.
“Yaya will play in more attacking positions - to decide the last pass, to score goals, for our build-up in the last third of the pitch. Maybe it can happen but I have other options. Fernandinho can play there, Sagna can play there. We cannot forget at Crystal Palace after one month and a half injured, Bacary played his first game at centre-back and played awesome. So we have other options.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola confirmed striker Sergio Aguero is a doubt for the trip to Burnley on Saturday.
The Argentine took a blow to the foot in the Champions League game at Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday – and Guardiola says he will be monitored during training on Friday afternoon before a decision is made about his involvement at Turf Moor.
“Sergio finish the game not injured but he has a problem in his foot,” Guardiola added. “Today he has training at 4 o’clock and we will know exactly his condition and the condition of the other players.
“We played the last game not far away and we have tomorrow a game at 12.30. So I am going to wait to see their condition, Pablo Zabaleta as well.”
