The City striker was injured in the course of our 3-1 win at Wolves in last Monday’s opening Premier League game of the 2020/21 season.
The injury has already ruled him out of the Brazil squad for their forthcoming games against Peru and Bolivia and is another blow coming on top of the ongoing absence of Sergio Aguero.
Addressing the media ahead of Sunday’s Etihad Premier League assignment with Leicester City, the City manager provided further clarification on Jesus’s prognosis.
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“He is injured for the next month. Gabriel was injured against Wolves so he will be one month out,” Guardiola confirmed.
“It’s a muscular problem.
“We don’t have Sergio, we don’t have Gabriel.
“Of course, we have many options. We have Liam (Delap), Cole Palmer can play as a striker too. We will see.”
Quizzed as to whether he had a return date in mind for Aguero, who has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery in June, the City boss said he hoped our all-time record scorer could be able to return in ‘weeks.’
“I don’t know… hopefully as soon as possible,” Guardiola added.
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“Sergio is training a little bit, running a little bit on the pitch but he still couldn’t make one training session with us.
“Hopefully in weeks, one month a little bit - hopefully a little bit more than one month - he can come back.”
With City afflicted by several injuries to key personnel with Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Oleks Zinchenko all having picked up injuries on international duty earlier this month, it has led to fears of potential burn-out given the strenuous demands on players this season.
For his part, Guardiola was philosophical about the situation given the ‘exceptional times’ of the COVID-19 pandemic, though he warned that the players were not ‘machines’.
“It’s best not to think too much about this. We had three players come back from the national team injured so we cannot control this,” the manager admitted.
“They play two times in three or four days but they are not machines. We demand a lot and sometimes the muscles fall down.
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“Hopefully, sooner or later, step by step, week by week, they are going to come back.
“The national federations need to play games for qualification for the European Championships, the World Cup…
“FIFA and UEFA have a responsibility to organise their own tournaments and they need the players.
“Now is exceptional for everyone with the pandemic. Everybody understands this situation but even without this situation it’s the same.
“They play 11 months, playing incredible games and we give them two or three weeks off and then come back for another season.
“Before it was completely different - now it is what it is. We are not going to change anything saying the opposite. Now is an exceptional situation for everywhere: the cinemas, restaurants, theatres, for museums, for shops. Everyone is struggling.
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“For us the next day it’s do what we have to do and try to play a good game
“So, we have to live this, help the players to come back - the players that are fit - and win game by game.”
