Manager Pep Guardiola states that it’s probable Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will remain sidelined until the conclusion of January.
A foot injury, with limited details disclosed, has sidelined 23-year-old Haaland since the defeat against Aston Villa on December 6.
Despite initial expectations for the City’s top scorer to make a comeback for the Club World Cup in December, the injury has yet to fully heal.
“It’s the bone. It needs time,” Guardiola said.
“With every injury you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time.”
Haaland, the Norway international, boasting 19 goals in 22 club games this season, had previously been declared unfit for the upcoming Premier League clash against Newcastle this Saturday.
Following this match, City is set to embark on a 13-day break for warm weather training in Abu Dhabi. If his recovery extends throughout the remainder of the month, he will be unavailable for the FA Cup visit to Tottenham on January 26 and the league fixture at home against Burnley on January 31.
“It’s fine but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi,” Guardiola said.
“Hopefully at the end of this month he’ll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning.”
City are unbeaten in the eight games Haaland has missed, including their Club World Cup victory, and sit five points off Premier League leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.
But Guardiola said his side miss Haaland “a lot”.
“We need him,” Guardiola said. “Hopefully he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem.”
Centre-back Manuel Akanji is expected to face a comparable duration on the sidelines following his early exit in the 18th minute of the FA Cup victory against Huddersfield last week.
“He will be some weeks out,” Guardiola said. “It’s not a big problem but until the end of the month.”