Manchester City’s Erling Haaland out until end of January after foot setback
In this week's update, Pep Guardiola shared that Erling Haaland has faced a hindrance in his recuperation from his foot injury. The Manchester City coach expressed that the forward was not able to participate in training sessions and won't be able to join any games until the end of the month.
Haaland, who has scored 19 goals in 22 games this season, is Manchester City's leading scorer. However, he hasn't played since their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on December 6th, and has missed eight games so far. It seems likely that he will have to miss at least three more matches.
The manager shared that the player had some foot troubles. As a result, the doctors recommended a week of rest before resuming in Abu Dhabi. The manager hopes that by the end of this month, the player's foot will have healed enough to return to the field. Initially, the injury seemed less severe, but it turned out to be a bone issue that required more recovery time. Like any injury, it takes time to heal. Hopefully, the player will be recovered enough to return to action by the end of the month.
Following their Saturday game in Newcastle, City will travel to Abu Dhabi for some warm weather training. After this, they will play Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round on the 26th of January and host Burnley in the Premier League on the last day of the month. City has been on a winning streak, having won seven and drawn one out of their last eight matches despite the absence of Haaland.
Manuel Akanji got injured in the match against Huddersfield on Sunday, and he won't be available until the next month. Pep Guardiola mentioned that he will be out of action for a few weeks, and it's not a significant problem. However, his return for the matches against Spurs or Burnley is uncertain. Despite this, the team is fortunate that they don't have any games for the next ten days after playing against Newcastle. But after their trip to Abu Dhabi, they will assess the situation and decide accordingly.
