Erling Haaland has missed Manchester City’s last nine games (Getty)
Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland is in line to make his return for Manchester City’s Premier League clash against Burnley next week.
The 23-year-old, who has scored 19 goals in all competitions this season, has missed City’s last nine games, which included their victory at the Club World Cup last month, due to a foot fracture.
Haaland is now training pain-free with his City teammates but the Premier League champions have been cautious about reintroducing their top scorer too soon.
The Norway international will miss City’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Tottenham on Friday evening, but Guardiola has indicated that the striker may get some minutes in his side’s Premier League match at home to Burnley next Wednesday.
‘It was a bone. We thought it was a bit less but in the end it was a little bit of a fracture of the bone and the bone is not a muscular issue that you can do a little bit and come back,’ Guardiola said.
Erling Haaland has scored 19 goals for Manchester City this season (Getty)
‘When you have this injury it’s a question of time, people say six to eight weeks, it is six to eight weeks. It is not about how much you work or if you go to Abu Dhabi or not, you’ll be short.
‘The bone needs time to close, to make his procedure and now it’s at the end, it will be eight weeks now, almost two months this or next weekend, this is the process, he feels good and now he needs time to take the rhythm and start to give him minutes when he will be fit.’
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Asked if Haaland is still feeling pain whilst training, Guardiola replied: ‘In Abu Dhabi and here in the last week, 10 days, he doesn’t feel any. That is a good way.
“When he came back after two or three sessions and felt some disturbance, that’s why we were a little cautious after we waited a long time and in December he couldn’t play for a long time.
‘We tried to avoid it but now he feels good, we’ll give him three or four days and hopefully he can play against Burnley and he can play his first minutes, we’ll see.’
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Haaland has missed City’s last nine games due to a foot fracture.