Sense of urgency, City accelerates the recovery process of its star

Manchester City have done pretty well without Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has missed the last ten matches with a foot fracture and nine of those have been victories, with a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace the only blot in the scorebook. Two of those wins also helped earn them a fifth trophy of 2023 as they claimed the Club World Cup in Jeddah last month after beating Urawa Red Diamonds and Fluminense.

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At the same time, Pep Guardiola has never shied away from how important Haaland is to the team. However well Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and the rest of the team are playing, there never won't be room for a striker who got 52 goals in his first season in English football to win them the Treble. For two reasons, Haaland isn't just a goalscorer either. The first is that he has involved himself in City's game more and more after working with Guardiola, as well as the fact that defenders can be so preoccupied with stopping him that they let one of his teammates find space.

The second is that he is a goalscorer who always wants to score more goals. Having won the Champions League and achieved his boyhood dream in the summer, City's No.9 was obliged to do some media activity after the game and chose to use his time in front of Thierry Henry for a television network to ask how he could improve. Over recent months he has been working on his heading.

There was a very public conversation with Guardiola on the pitch at Old Trafford after their win discussing Haaland's technique for heading, and he is not one to think he is perfect. "Lately in the last year I have been working on my headers, getting crosses in and heading," he said at the weekend. "I am practicing as much as I can and I try to shoot as much as I can in training. I think it’s a good thing to practice."

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Close to return

Haaland is closing in on a return to first-team action, having admitted he was getting bored by the long wait without a ball at his feet. That could come as soon as Burnley on Wednesday if the medical team give Guardiola the green light. It remains to be seen whether City will see an even better Haaland return from injury, but when he is back you can bet everyone at the club will be delighted because of the attitude as well as the talent.