Erling Haaland return date confirmed by Pep Guardiola in new details

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed the return date of Erling Haaland following the Norwegian’s most recent injury setback.

The City centre-forward was left out of the Manchester City squad for their most recent outing in the Premier League against Luton Town, having sustained a stress in his foot following the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last week.

That problem has remained heading into their next fixture this week, with the Norway international not named as part of the club’s 23-man travelling squad to Belgrade in Serbia this week for European action.

Speaking during his address to the media at the Rajko Mitić Stadium on Tuesday evening, ahead of Manchester City’s final contest in this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage, Pep Guardiola revealed the latest on Erling Haaland’s current recovery from injury.

“He’ll be back I think on Thursday,” the Manchester City manager revealed. “We’ll see how he feels.”

Guardiola also confirmed that an assessment will be made on the 23-year-old’s current level of fitness on Thursday, before making a final decision as to whether he will be available for Manchester City’s final Premier League game before the FIFA Club World Cup.

Crystal Palace travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as City hope to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League before their trip to Saudi Arabia for the world-renowned meeting of continental champions.

Pep Guardiola has remained somewhat optimistic that Erling Haaland will be available for the club’s debut at the FIFA Club World Cup, alongside Jeremy Doku who has also been ruled out of recent matches through a muscular concern.

Speaking after the 1-2 victory over Luton on Sunday, Guardiola said that Doku could be ready again for City in “maybe one week, two weeks”, revealing that the Belgium international winger currently has a muscular problem, but “not a big, big issue”.