The Manchester City midfielder left the pitch in tears against Watford on Wednesday and will have a knee operation in Barcelona
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Ilkay Gundogan will undergo knee surgery but was in no position to put a timescale on the midfielder's recovery. Gundogan was forced off during the first half of City's victory against Watford in midweek after colliding with Nordin Amrabat and it is feared he has ruptured a cruciate ligament. The Germany midfielder was in tears as he made his way down the tunnel and scans on Thursday and Friday have shown that surgery is required. Gundogan will be treated at Dr. Ramon Cugat's clinic in Barcelona in the coming days and is likely to miss the rest of the season, although Guardiola says there is currently no official estimate regarding a return date. "I think to be fair we should wait for a statement from the club, from the doctors," Guardiola said on Friday. "He will be out for a time, but precisely what he has I think the doctors are the right people to say what he has. 
"It's so, so difficult for him, we are sad for him, we are going to miss him a lot. It's unlucky, sometimes in football it happens. "He's sad, we are sad, we are upset. It was an unlucky situation, Sometimes there are situations where the opponents go harder but it was a normal situation. He's going to be operated on by the best [doctor] so we will see about the future." While Guardiola says he will miss Gundogan, he is satisfied that he has the squad to cover for his absence, and that City's medical staff are managing their workloads well. "During the season these things sometimes happen," he continued. "Almost all the players are fit, we suffer few muscle injuries - we have more red cards than muscle injuries.
"We are going to miss him but we are going to support him. I'm pretty sure now he is sad but he will recover, after the operation he will come back here, see his team-mates, start running and we will see." - Goal