Manchester City's Pep Guardiola was forced to spend a period on the sidelines after the treble-winning manager required back surgery in August.
After suffering with back pain for a numbers of weeks, the Premier League champions released an update confirming Guardiola returned to his home city of Barcelona for the procedure.
The Spaniard returned to Manchester and resumed work in the technical area but was then missing from the sidelines again when City visited Wolves on September 30.
What happened to Guardiola at Molineux? Here's the lowdown on his whereabouts, as well as what he had to say about the situation.
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Where is Pep Guardiola? Boss punished for City vs Wolves
Guardiola served a touchline ban against Wolves, watching from the stands after receiving a third yellow card of the season during City's Carabao Cup third round defeat at Newcastle three days earlier.
The threshold for coaching bans was reduced from four cautions to three ahead of the 2023/24 season in a bid to reduce dissent from technical areas.
When asked what the punishment would change about the way he worked during the game, Guardiola smiled and replied: "Nothing."
"The view will be better, that's for sure," he told Sky Sports Premier League. "I will not get a yellow card there – that's for sure, too. I will be more calm and at halftime I will go down and talk with the players."
Guardiola's previous absence through injury covered the two league matches before the international break. City released a statement on August 22 confirming Guardiola had undergone an 'emergency' but 'minor' operation on his back.
The procedure was undertaken in Barcelona as the Catalan manager had been suffering with 'severe' back pain for several weeks.
When is Pep Guardiola back?
Guardiola is expected to be back on the touchline when City visit German opponents RB Leipzig in the Uefa Champions League on October 4.
His Premier League touchline comeback should come on October 8 at Arsenal – the team who challenged City most closely for the title in 2022/23.
How many trophies has Pep Guardiola won?
After spells in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester, Guardiola has established himself as one of the most skilled and respected manager sin football history.
Winning a number of different title in charge of each club, the Spaniard has won 36 trophies in elite professional football following City's triumph in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup on penalties.
As well as winning domestic league and cup titles throughout his career, Guardiola has also won the Champions League on three occasions – a tally that can only be beaten by current Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti (4) across the history of the sport.