Pep Guardiola is unsure whether Vincent Kompany will ever regain his best Manchester City form

Kompany is returning from the 35th injury of his career

Guardiola conceded he may leave Kompany out of his Champions League squad (Getty)

Pep Guardiola admits he does not know if Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will ever return to his best form as the Belgian international defender prepares to come back from yet another injury problem.

The 30-year-old is in contention for a place in the City squad that travels to Everton on Sunday after eight weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury he sustained at Crystal Palace in November.

That was the 35th injury of Kompany’s career which dates back to his signing from Hamburg in 2008.

Now, at the age of 30, Kompany’s long-term fitness and durability is uncertain with even his manager conceding that he has no idea whether the defender will ever return to his very best.

“I don’t know, it is a good question,” said Guardiola. “It is not the first time we have talked about that.

“The good news is he is back and hopefully he stays fit for a long time because then we will see what level he is at. When he is fit, he is at the top level, we cannot deny how good Vincent is, but to achieve that maybe he needs a bit of time.

“Everybody needs that when you have been out for a long time. Mentally he is strong, he knows what he needs to do, but what I would like is for him not to put a lot of pressure on himself.

“He needs weeks and weeks and weeks of training sessions and to just go out there and play the games. He doesn’t have to put pressure on himself to do amazing things, he just has to do the simple things and be the defender he was.

“He just needs to keep it simple and do the things he had always done. Once he is back up and running, he will achieve the things he wants, he will get back to his level.”

Kompany has repeatedly claimed that he feels he can regain his full fitness and enjoy an uninterrupted run in the first team.

But Guardiola revealed that he has spoken with the player and warned him to take his comeback in a steady and sustainable manner.

“Yes, his mentality is that he feels he wants to come back immediately,” said Guardiola. “He wants to be perfect immediately, but I know, in this business, you do not get time.

Kompany has suffered 35th separate injury-related problems in eight years at the club (Getty)

“You are judged immediately, but he has to feel his way. His manager and his teammates will give him time to come back, he has been away for a long, long time off the pitch.”

Guardiola must name his Champions League squad for the knock-out stages in two weeks and the manager admitted he must make a decision on whether to risk naming Kompany to one of the places.

“I haven’t thought about the Champions League squad yet,” said the City manager. “He was on the list for the first half of the season, but unfortunately he was injured and could not play.

“We are going to see which players are going to be involved, everybody has a chance. Hopefully, he is able to play [in the Champions League] in the second half of the season.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola insists his £50 million defender John Stones is strong enough to cope with any abuse he receives when he returns to Everton this weekend.

The England centre-half, who swapped Goodison Park for the Etihad last summer, angered some Everton fans with the way in which he turned his back on their club.

John Stones is returning to Goodison Park for the first time since his summer transfer (Getty)

“Yes, he is strong enough. In those terms, I don’t have any doubt about that,” said Guardiola. “He’s strong. In terms of when he misses some action, he’s strong enough to play in the next one.

“I would like when players come back here to Manchester City - not just Everton - for fans to show respect to players who have played for that club.

“I would like to feel that but I’m not concerned about what Everton decide to do but hopefully they can show respect because I know how John respects the club where he was, that helped him to develop his performance, to go to play in the Premier League.

“But after what happened in the past for other players, you can expect absolutely everything. You can’t be surprised.”