Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed the length of time Erling Haaland will be sidelined, as detailed his “hope” for the striker’s fitness for the Club World Cup.
Haaland has been one of the standout City players in an otherwise underwhelming season. After four Premier League titles on the spin, the Citizens are currently fifth in the table.
Haaland, though, has still scored 21 goals in the league, eight in the Champions League and one in the FA Cup, which helped City reach the semi-finals of the competition.
But the Norwegian forward also had to go off injured during the quarter-final against Bournemouth, and manager Guardiola has confirmed Haaland will spend some time on the sidelines.
“The doctors told me between five and seven weeks [out]. So hopefully for the end of season and FIFA Club World Cup he will be ready,” Man City posted on X.
If he is out for the entire seven weeks, Haaland would only return for the final Premier League game of the season, against Fulham. If that is his first game back available, with nothing to play for, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was not selected.
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Indeed, City will have the Club World Cup to look forward to after that, and won’t want to risk Haaland aggravating his injury.
That competition starts on June 14, which means the striker should be ready for the start, as long as there are no complications with his recovery.
It’s likely that City will play Omar Marmoush through the centre of the attack for the rest of the season, prior to that tournament.
The Egyptian forward replaced Haaland up top against Bournemouth, and has played there for City on a couple of other occasions. Since joining the club in January, Marmoush has largely played on the left wing, with Haaland the incumbent up top.
But prior to his transfer, the forward played almost exclusively through the centre at Eintracht Frankfurt, where he scored 15 Bundesliga goals in 17 games in the first half of the season.
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