Pep Guardiola insists he will unleash Erling Haaland on Bayern Munich on Saturday.
The Manchester City boss admitted that the champions’ new £51million striker has been carrying some fitness problems since arriving at the Etihad and he was left out of Wednesday night’s 2-1 victory over Club America in Texas. But Guardiola dispelled fears that Haaland’s injuries are serious – and promised to play him against the Bundesliga champions in Green Bay.
Guardiola said: “Next game, Erling will be ready. He’s had niggles and a few problems. We’ll see. He’s trained just two sessions and didn’t want to take risks. The season is so long.”
More than 61,000 fans inside the NRG Stadium were left disappointed when Haaland failed to make an appearance on his 22nd birthday. The Norwegian took his place on the bench in a hoodie – and was cheered every time his face was beamed onto the two giant screens.
But City still lifted the Copa de Lone Star by beating the Mexicans 2-1 thanks to two brilliant Kevin De Bruyne strikes. Haaland missed 16 games in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund last season.
And Dortmund coach Marco Rose admitted that he was often forced to play through the pain barrier. Haaland still scored 29 goals in 30 appearances. Guardiola also admitted that he will not put pressure on his Etihad bosses to meet Brighton ’s £50million valuation of left-back Marc Cucurella.
City are ready to pay £30million for the Spaniard, but teenager Josh Wilson-Ebrand was outstanding against Club America and Guardiola warned that he has other options to fill the void left by Aleks Zinchenko’s departure and Benjamin Mendy’s ongoing legal problems.
