Manchester City has slowly but surely become a powerhouse in the Premier League. Under the reputed coach Pep Guardiola, the club has transformed into one of the biggest threats in European football. In fact, the Cityzens managed to secure the treble last season, a feat achieved by only a handful of clubs.
This prowess was largely thanks to the signing of Erling Haaland, who provided clinical finishing in front of goal and led the City attack from the front. Unfortunately, it seems like just after one season with City, Erling Haaland has fallen prey to injury, causing City to fall behind.
Erling Haaland injury update
Despite having the best debut season that any striker could have with City, the former Borussia Dortmund star fell prey to a foot injury which kept him out of the squad for three weeks. The 2023’s top scorer, only after Cristiano Ronaldo, was scheduled to return to training earlier this month and we got to see a few glimpses of him as well but he suffered a setback in his recovery and was out injured again.
Recent reports state that the goal scorer is set to return next week and has already started training. As stated by Fabrizio Romano, Erling Haland has already started training with the squad and can return by the end of this month.
🚨🔵 Erling Haaland is back to regular training with Manchester City squad.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 22, 2024
Excellent news for Pep Guardiola as Norwegian striker’s feeling better now and can be ready at the end of the month as expected. pic.twitter.com/HsKegU5Kxt
This marks good news for Pep Guardiola’s side, as they desperately need there always-in-form striker to give them a boost in the Premier League race, in which they sit second only behind Liverpool.
Comparing City’s form with and without Haaland
According to transfermarkt, Manchester City signed Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for a record-breaking fee of €150.00 million in the summer of 2022. This transfer was brought in by the tactician Pep to fix the last piece of the puzzle in his team and he fit so perfectly.
Haaland didn’t disappoint at all, as he scored nearly 52 goals and provided nine assists in 52 matches for the club in his very first season. These numbers helped the team win their first-ever treble and the club won Champions League for the very first time as well.
Into the second season, the Norwegian started brilliantly as well, scoring 19 goals and providing 5 assists already in just 22 matches for the club across all competitions. But then the striker got injured on December 9, 2023 and has already missed the last 12 games for Manchester City till now. In the last 4 Premier League games that the striker missed due to injury, the club already dropped points against Crystal Palace, didn’t perform that well against others, and won them by scrappy goals or 1-goal margins.
The absence of the star striker has obviously affected the Manchester City squad and their performance might have gone down a bit but the news of his return might boost their confidence again and we could see the dominant Manchester City again that we saw last season.
Are you eager to see Erling Haaland back in action? Make sure to let us know in the comments.
