Man City handed major Premier League title boost vs Arsenal as Erling Haaland photo emerges

Manchester City have been handed a massive boost to their hopes of securing their fourth consecutive Premier League title after Erling Haaland made his return to full first-team training this week.

The Norwegian striker had been out since suffering from a bone stress reaction in his foot and missed their wins over Luton Town and Red Star Belgrade and their 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium over the weekend. Guardiola was initially unsure as to how long the striker would be out for given their travel to the Club World Cup this week which is being held in Saudi Arabia.

The City boss was hopeful that his star striker would be able to return for their semi-final against J-League side Urawa Reds but Haaland was left out of the squad which saw Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes start up front in an eventual 3-0 win. Since arriving in England, the Norwegian has netted 71 goals — 19 of those in this campaign already — but has recently been plagued with injury problems that have limited his goalscoring ability compared to last year.

When asked if Haaland would be able to play against Palace and then in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, Guardiola admitted: «I don't think so. [Unless the medical team] tell me something new but I don't think so.

»It's not fractured, it's just stress and sometimes players recover quicker sometimes longer so [we have to take it] day by day. The doctors have said we have to take it day by day, week by week [and see] how he feels. The moment he doesn't have symptoms or doesn't feel pain he will be ready to play again."

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