Shortly after scoring his 11th goal of the season, the Norwegian was substituted at the hour mark of Tuesday’s 4-0 Champions League victory away against Slovan Bratislava.
Following the game, Guardiola acknowledged that the Citizens would need to look after Haaland and prevent him from getting any knocks or ailments similar to the one he received during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United.
“Erling is never disappointed with his manager!” Guardiola informed journalists. “As a manager, I feel happier and more safe when Erling is playing.
“I’ll keep him on the pitch at all times, but with the score at 0–3, the game was virtually finished, and we have a lot more games to finish up
him. He took a serious knock in the last game against Newcastle, which is why things improved following Rico Lewis’ amazing ball to score a goal with the score at 0–3.
Since then, Guardiola has stated in a press conference on Friday that Haaland “is fine” and will likely participate in training before Saturday’s match at the Etihad Stadium against Fulham.
All others aside from Nathan, Kevin, Rodri, and Oscar. The others are well,” Guardiola remarked. “Kevin is not ready for tomorrow.”
After the international break, Guardiola has previously expressed optimism that both Ake and De Bruyne will rejoin the first squad.
While De Bruyne has missed the last four games since leaving the game at halftime of Manchester City’s 0-0 Champions League tie against Inter Milan on September 18, Ake has missed the last six games for Man City.
Concerns have been raised by the news that De Bruyne has requested to “skip” the November camp in order to “take care of his body.” The playmaker has also not been called up to Belgium’s national team squad for this month’s international break, according to manager Domenico Tedesco
concerning his health.
“I spoke with Kevin on the phone for a while. Despite his injury, Tedesco is driven to play in the 2026 World Cup, he told reporters.
“In order to take care of his physique, he requested to skip both this camp and November. The World Cup has made the timetable even more hectic for clubs. He isn’t there now and in November for that reason. But he’ll be there for the World Cup, when it matters most.
“Kevin is a major player and a major character. After the final match, we had a conversation. Obviously moved by the moment; victory is his ultimate goal. But he never mentioned names in the media.
“All we can do is handle it. Just because Kevin mentioned that, it has gained a lot of attention in the media. However, it is not a hot issue in the changing room.”
As a reaction to Guardiola stated of De Bruyne’s exclusion from the Belgium team: “He’s not ready [to play for City] tomorrow.” How can he go the national team when he hasn’t played one game? That has never made sense to me.
“I don’t know his thinking; he didn’t inform me he was quitting the national team. However, he is hurt for that match (against Fulham).
After scoring his first goal of the season against Slovan Bratislava in midweek, Phil Foden may be asked by Guardiola to start his first Premier League game of the season in an offensive midfield role in De Bruyne’s absence.
