Juanma Lillo in focus as he takes charge of Man City in Pep Guardiola’s absence

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will miss his side’s next two matches after undergoing “emergency” back surgery on Tuesday.

City said the operation was a “success” but his convalescence in Barcelona means assistant Juanma Lillo will take charge for their games against Sheffield United on Sunday and Fulham on September 2.

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at the 57-year-old Spaniard.

While Lillo has no playing experience to draw upon, his coaching career started when he was only 16 years old after joining his local side Amaroz KE in the Basque region of northern Spain. He remained there for four years before taking charge of hometown club Tolosa CF in the Spanish fourth tier.

After several years in the lower reaches of the Spanish pyramid, Lillo got his big break at Salamanca in 1992, guiding them from the third division all the way to LaLiga in three years. As a result he became the Spanish top-flight’s youngest-ever coach at the time, aged just 29. He was sacked with Salamanca languishing in the relegation zone, prompting an outcry among fans. The club were unable to avoid an immediate return to the Segunda Division but Lillo’s profile was raised significantly.

After nearly two-and-a-half decades of exclusively working in his native Spain, Lillo headed for Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa in the mid-2000s. One of the players under his command was Guardiola, who was at the back end of his glittering playing career. Lillo has had the travelling bug ever since, having taken charge of sides in Colombia, Japan, China and Qatar, while he was understudy to Jorge Sampaoli with the Chile national team and is now into his second stint under Guardiola at City.

Juanma Lillo returns to City as part of @PepTeam’s