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Manchester City fans got bad news on Tuesday with an Erling Haaland injury update they did not want to hear. After leaving City's 2-1 FA Cup quarterfinals win over Bournemouth on Saturday in a walking boot, Pep Guardiola now says that the team's star striker will be out for up to seven weeks with an ankle injury, which means his 2024-25 season is likely over.
“They told me the doctors between five to seven weeks. So hopefully the end of the season and by the Club World Cup he will be ready,” Guardiola said, per ESPN. “Sometimes there are years when these kinds of things happen. It happened all season.”
While there is never a good time to lose your star player, this Erling Haaland injury is horrific timing for Pep Guardiola, who recently signed an extension, and Manchester City. The squad moved on to the semifinals of the FA Cup after the Bournemouth win—a game that saw Haaland equalize with his 30th goal of the campaign—and will play Nottingham Forest on April 26.
City also has nine Premier League matches left, with Leiscter City on deck Wednesday and the Manchester Derby against Manchester United on Sunday. These nine matches will determine if Haalland, Guardiola, and City play Champions League football next season. The team currently sits in fifth, one point behind Chelsea in the fourth and final UCL spot.
Five weeks could put Haaland—City's £500,000-per-week man—back in time for the Manchester City-Southampton match on May 10 with the FA Cup Final (May 17) and the last EPL games of the season against Bournemouth and Fulham on May 18 (which will be rescheduled in City make the final) and May 25, respectively.
While Haalland is out, Manchester City will likely rely on Omar Marmoush, the only other true striker on the roster. The 26-year-old Egyptian arrived on the blue side of Manchester in January from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported £59 million fee. Marmoush has five goals in eight appearances, including the game-winner after Erling Haaland exited with his injury.
