Pep Guardiola Reveals Key Reason Why Erling Haaland Needs Time At Manchester City

After images surfaced of Manchester City’s initial training sessions ahead of their pre-season tour of the United States, a collective dread was felt amongst the fanbase as Erling Haaland was not pictured in a single frame.

Considering the youngster’s patchy injury record at Borussia Dortmund last season, many jumped to the conclusion that he had suffered yet another knock.

However, it was later revealed that 'niggles' meant Erling Haaland was not fully fit, but was expected to return to action soon.

As a result, the 22-year old remained an unused substitute during Manchester City’s 2-1 win against Club América in the side’s first pre-season friendly.

Pep Guardiola had gone on to reveal that the club were being risk-averse with the Norwegian’s fitness issues, prior to their 1-0 victory against Bayern Munich, as he had trained only twice with the first-team.

However, it seemed as if the former RB Salzburg hero was ultimately fit and firing for the contest, as he started proceedings and went on to open the scoring as early as in the 12th minute.

After Jack Grealish got on the end of a Kevin De Bruyne through ball to deliver a cutback, Erling Haaland obliged by netting home a gilt-edged tap-in.

The former Borussia Dortmund icon showed encouraging signs during his unofficial debut for his new club.

Traits such as his proactive off-the-ball movement, tidy link-up play, and intelligent positioning were on display, as the highly-acclaimed striker impressed during his 45 minute spell on the pitch.

Pep Guardiola shared his thoughts on Erling Haaland’s outing and how he believes the relentless goalscorer can reach his very best in a sky blue strip.

“He scored a goal which is important, these type of goals in front of ‘keeper - always he’s there."

Pep Guardiola continued, "The first minutes, he needs more rhythm and time, but already he had 45 minutes which is good for him.

"We’ll see how he reacts to the niggles that he had in the previous weeks.

"After we come back, we have long weeks to prepare every weekend game.

"In those two or three weeks we will get the best form."

As the Catalan boss and his staff assess the star striker’s fitness levels after his exploits against the Bavarian giants, the player’s training regime for the time being as well as his minutes on the pitch will be managed ahead of the new campaign.

Ultimately, Manchester City’s prime focus will remain on ensuring that Erling Haaland reaches full fitness ahead of an unrelenting 2022/23 season across all four fronts.