Pep Guardiola has revealed Erling Haaland will be out until the end of January due to his foot injury, but Kevin De Bruyne could start against Newcastle.
The Norwegian striker has returned to training ahead of the FA Cup opener against Huddersfield, but he is not yet 100% to take part in a competitive match. Guardiola had repeatedly insisted he would take no risks with the prolific goalscorer and the manager appears to have kept his word, as he is now sidelined for an extended period. Furthermore, John Stones, injured in his foot, also remains unavailable.
While giving more details on Haaland’s injury, Guardiola said: ” It’s the bone. It takes time. With every injury you can do whatever you want but it’s a matter of time. He’s doing well, but the doctors decided to take a week off and maybe start again in Abu Dhabi. I hope it will be ready by the end of the month. It was a little more than we expected at first. We need him. I hope he can come back and play the last four or five months without any problems.”
De Bruyne made his competitive return, after five months of absence, in the FA Cup victory against Huddersfield. If the player believes that he still has a way to go before being a starter, Guardiola does not agree. “What I saw yesterday is that he looks very good and dynamic” , did he declare. “ The minutes he played were very good, better than in the training session before the Huddersfield game. It’s normal, when you come out of five months of injury, to have ups and downs in training. He’s getting better. We have one match and then we will do four or five training sessions in Abu Dhabi and that will help us to be better for the next few months. »
