Inside Erling Haaland’s first Manchester City training session as return date hinted | OneFootball

Erling Haaland could make his long-awaited return to action for Manchester City in the home Premier League clash against Burnley next week, according to a report.

The Norway international striker has been out of action for the Premier League champions since late 2023 having sustained a concerning bone stress injury in his foot, with medical staff at the club taking extra care over a return date.

Erling Haaland seemed on track for a return to action earlier this month, however a setback in training led to Manchester City doctors taking the decision to withdraw the forward for a one week period in order to prevent any further aggravation of the problem.

However, a fresh boost to Pep Guardiola’s plans has arrived this week, with Erling Haaland once again making a return to first-team training action during the club’s warm weather training camp in the middle-east.

While Haaland may have made a return, a new report has offered a word of caution with regards to an expected return to competitive match action for Manchester City, such is the care being taken over the player’s rehabilitation.

According to the information of The Times’ Paul Hirst, Erling Haaland completed the full session alongside his first-team Manchester City team-mates in Abu Dhabi on Monday without suffering any pain to his foot.

It is further detailed that City staff are ‘taking it steady’ with Haaland’s rehabilitation, and as such the 23-year-old striker is ‘unlikely’ to feature against Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night.

However, Haaland could come into Pep Guardiola’s thinking for Manchester City’s following fixture, as they host Vincent Kompany’s Burnley in the Premier League next week or the away match against Brentford the following Monday.

Erling Haaland was joined by John Stones in making a return to training ground duties following injury, after the central defender recovered from an ankle knock sustained in last month’s victory away at Everton.

Manuel Akanji remains the only player to have played no part in Manchester City’s training sessions in Abu Dhabi, with the Swiss defender ruled out through a knee injury suffered against Huddersfield in the FA Cup.