Man City handed major injury boost as striker trains with Chelsea clash looming

Erling Haaland has trained with the Manchester City squad ahead of Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League clash with Young Boys.

The Norwegian striker was pictured and filmed taking part in Monday afternoon’s open session under Pep Guardiola ahead of the Champions League visit of Swiss side Young Boys to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

Haaland’s involvement will come as a major relief to City, who are embroiled in a fierce early defence of their Premier League title with the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal all posing a real threat so far this season.

The 23-year-old, runaway Golden Boot winner in 2022/23 who smashed all manner of scoring records in his debut campaign in English football but finished as runner-up to World Cup winner Lionel Messi in the recent Ballon d’Or voting, has already netted 13 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions so far this term but was taken off hurt at half-time during Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of struggling Bournemouth.

Guardiola subsequently revealed that Haaland had suffered a “twist in the ankle” that left him feeling uncomfortable, stating he was unsure if he would return against Young Boys or Chelsea.

The City boss then told reporters in his pre-match press conference held before that latest training session on Monday: “We will train this afternoon so I don’t know. I spoke with the doctor and him. Yesterday he said he felt much better but I don’t know.”

It remains to be seen if Haaland will play against Young Boys in Group G with dominant table-toppers City firmly on course for the Champions League last-16 as things stand, though he appears on track to start as normal against Chelsea on Sunday.