The England winger was forced off towards the end of last weekend’s 2-0 loss away at Tottenham and the Club has confirmed he will definitely miss Sunday’s Premier League home clash with West Ham.
But, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, the manager provided a further update on Sterling’s absence and said he was unsure at this stage if the England international would be fit for the trip to the Bernabeu on February 26th.
The boss also gave the latest news of Leroy Sane’s recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament, revealing that the German winger was making good progress in training with the first team.
“Raheem has a hamstring injury and we will see,” said Guardiola. “Of course, it takes weeks, but we will see for Madrid. I don’t know (at this stage).
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“(I have) No idea (if it will be weeks or months).
“It’s a problem. It was a problem with Ilkay Gundogan (when he was out) for six months in my first season, and this year Aymeric Laporte has been out. It is what it is. We will see.”
Quizzed on Leroy’s Sane and a possible date for his comeback, Guardiola was at pains to stress that the winger’s recovery from such a long-term absence needed to be managed carefully.
And the boss stressed that Sane needed more time before he will be ready to return to action.
“He is training with us. When you have an injury for six months, you cannot train one week and be there,” the boss added.
“You have to recover your tempo, rhythm and be confident in your body and your knee. It’s not like an ankle, or muscle injury.
“A knee injury always needs time. He needs weeks.
“The surgery was perfect, and he recovered incredibly well. He will be back but he right now he needs time.”
Sunday’s Etihad encounter with the Hammers will be our last game before a mini mid-winter break with City not back in action for 13 days until we visit Leicester on February 21st.
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It’s the first time a break has been introduced in English football and Guardiola said he felt it would come at a good time for his squad ahead of a busy schedule going into March.
“We have a game and then we have days off., then we prepare when we come back for the next games,” the manager continued.
“A little break is good for everyone. Now we are going to do it.
“March is busy, but this month we have a bit more space between games.”
