Manchester City Forward Erling Haaland could be out for a maximum of seven weeks with an ankle injury, manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland took the injury in the FA Cup victory on Bournemouth on Bournemouth after a challenge from Lewis Cook. He had scored earlier in the game when Man City won 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
A club statement on Monday evening said that the Norway International would see a specialist, but they were hopeful that he would return before the end of the season.
Man City is in the pursuit for a Champions League place, with their victory at the weekend in setting up a FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest. They will also participate in the club World Cup in June, in the US.
Guardiola continued to add a timetable to possible absence and told a press conference of pre-Leicester: “The doctors told me between five and seven weeks, so hopefully the end of the season and the club world cup, he will be ready.
“Sometimes there are years that these things happen – it happened all season. It could have been different if it was the end of the season [before the Club World Cup]. With all the injuries we have this season, I regret them and also for Erling. Hopefully the recovery is as quickly as possible and can be returned.
“We have no other player with his skills or specific qualities, but we have to adjust. For many years we have played with different ways in advance. It depends on the quality of the players. We are going to try to find a solution.”
When asked how his team will deal without Haaland, Guardiola replied: “We need players with other qualities and bring other players closer to the box.
“The figures of Erling have been exceptional and is our incredible threat to many things, but we have to adapt to our players.
“I know the players who have more goal than the other. We have to bring them closer to the box.”
The absence of Haaland contributes this season to the already long injury list for Man City, where the striker has joined the treatment table at Rodri, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji.
Pep on Fan Protest: we need them to reach CL Place
In anticipation of Man City against Leicester on Wednesday, his fans intend to protest after the club had announced that they had entered into a partnership with a third -party ticket website.
Fang groups have called supporters to stay outside the ground for the first nine minutes of the game.
To the question of the protests, Guardiola replied: “Of course I sympathetic when the fans can express their feelings in good and bad moments, it's because the team and the club lives.
“The worst thing is when you can't express. This is a club where people can express and we have contact with the fans and the club.
“I can only say that we need them since the minute. We play for the next season to be in the Champions League and we need them.
“I know how difficult Leicester is. I am impressed by how they played the last two games. They played well against Chelsea and Aston Villa.
“We need them [the fans] Desperate to achieve our success to be in the Champions League again. “
Race for CL – The upcoming luminaires of Man City
What and when is the Club World Cup?
The extensive FIFA Club World Cup takes place in 2025, with Manchester City and Chelsea – Plus Lionel Messi's Inter Miami – involved.
Defending champions City is grouped with Juventus, as well as the VAE side Al Ain and the Moroccan team Wydad AC in group G.
The New-Look Club World Cup will contain 32 teams and will be played every four years from the summer of 2025. It is an expansion of the previous version of the tournament, which took place every year and only concerned seven teams from all over the world.
The tournament starts on June 15, with last place on July 13.
The winners of the club World Cup receive up to £ 97 million ($ 125 million) from FIFA.
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