Erling Haaland has missed Man City’s last eight games (Photo: Getty)
Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland may not be back until next month after the Manchester City star suffered a setback in his recovery from injury.
Haaland has been sidelined since mid-December with a foot injury and has missed City’s last eight matches, including their Club World Cup triumph.
The prolific striker returned to training last week, giving hope to fans that he could feature against Newcastle on Saturday evening.
However, Guardiola ruled out that possibility in his pre-match press conference, though he did say that Kevin De Bruyne could start.
The manager has now revealed that the Norway international could well miss a further three games, saying: ‘Hopefully at the end of this month he’ll be ready.
‘It was a little bit more than we expected. It’s a bone, it needs time. We’ve missed him.’
Kevin De Bruyne is set to make his first start since the opening game of the season (Photo: Getty)
City’s remaining games in January are the trip at Newcastle, an FA Cup fourth-round clash at title rivals Tottenham, and a Premier League game against struggling Burnley.
In addition to Haaland, John Stones has also been ruled out for the match at St. James’ Park, but Jack Grealish may be back after suffering with illness.
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Going into this weekend, the Citizens are third in the table, five points behind leaders Liverpool, but they have a game in hand other their rivals.
Thanks to his injury, Haaland has also lost his lead in the Golden Boot race, with Mohamed Salah now level with the 23-year-old on 14 goals, though the Liverpool winger is also now absent because of AFCON.
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