Benjamin Mendy will be out of action for Manchester City until April because of his right knee injury, Pep Guardiola has revealed.
The France international defender ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament during the first-half of Saturday's 5-0 Premier League victory at home to Crystal Palace.
After tests in Manchester at the start of the week, the 23-year-old travelled to Barcelona to see a specialist doctor and further examinations of the knee on Thursday confirmed the extent of the injury.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's visit to Chelsea, Guardiola confirmed Mendy would undergo surgery on Friday afternoon in Barcelona and would be out until the time of the Champions League semi-final.
The City boss aded: "In the way Benjamin Mendy plays, his energy towards goal, we cannot replace him.
"We have to play a different way. You cannot replace him around the world."
Mendy joined City from Monaco for a fee of £49.2m in July.