Haaland hurt until late Jan but De Bruyne might play at Newcastle, per Guardiola

Man City will be without Erling Haaland until the end of January, but the Premier League champions have been boosted by the news Kevin De Bruyne is fit to start at Newcastle.

Haaland has been out of action since suffering a foot injury at the start of December, with the Norway striker having missed the club's last eight games in all competitions.

City had hoped to welcome the 23-year-old back early in the new year but the problem is proving more troublesome than expected and the player is not yet back in full training.

The expectation now is that he will be able to resume work as the club, without a game next weekend, travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp after Saturday's game at Newcastle.

Guardiola said: "Yes, (he's had) a little bit of disturbing problems in his feet. It's fine but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi.

"Hopefully at the end of this month, he'll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning.

"It's the bone. It needs time. With every injury, you can do whatever you want but it's a question of time."

Haaland scored 52 goals last season during an outstanding first campaign with City and had already netted 19 this term.

Guardiola feels his firepower has been sorely missed.

"We miss Erling a lot," the Spaniard said. "We need him. Hopefully, he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem.

"When you are injured at end of November, you miss a lot of games. It's the toughest period."

Defender Manuel Akanji is facing a spell on the sidelines in a further blow for City.

The Switzerland international was forced off early in last weekend's FA Cup victory over Huddersfield following a heavy challenge.

He joins centre-back John