The big news Manchester City fans received about Haaland at the start of the year

Manchester City are preparing for the second half of the 2023/24 season. This will undoubtedly be much more demanding than the previous one, as they will compete against Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Tottenham for the Premier League title, while they will have decisive duels in the FA Cup and the knock-out stages in the Champions League will begin. In all three tournaments they are the reigning champions, so they will have to defend the titles they won last year.

For that Pep Guardiola will need all the help he can get. Last week he was able to count again on Kevin De Bruyne, one of the stars of the team, who had been injured in August, during the first Premier League match against Burnley, and had to undergo surgery. The Belgian midfielder is now recovered, but he will need some time to regain his game rhythm and show his best level on the pitch again.

The concern now is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker is the top scorer in the Premier League alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, with 14 goals, and a key part of the team. However, he has been sidelined for exactly one month due to an ankle injury suffered during the 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa. That prevented him from playing the Club World Cup and the last 5 English league matches.

The good news is that in the last few days Haaland started training alongside his teammates, which means that his return to the pitch is getting closer and closer. But Pep Guardiola knows that he can't take any risk and that's why he will be patient before including him again in the team, considering that the most important matches will start in mid-February, when the Champions League resumes.

What's next for them?

Manchester City will make their FA Cup debut this Sunday at Etihad Stadium against Huddersfield, a team from the Championship, England's second division. And the following weekend they will travel to the north of the country to face Newcastle in the 21st round of the Premier League.