Erling Haaland has been given a “short break” before returning to Manchester City, with the “exhausted” striker racing against time to be fit for Sunday’s Premier League showdown with Liverpool.
Last week, Haaland asked to be substituted in the 67th minute of Norway’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal, raising concerns that he could have suffered an injury.
However, Norway manager Ståle Solbakken quickly played down those fears, confirming that Haaland’s early departure from the Nations League match had been planned in advance following an extremely demanding schedule.
“Erling was simply completely exhausted,” Solbakken said.
“Some of my players have had only six or seven days off. In a normal job, your livelihood doesn’t depend on your physical condition. Then you immediately go into the start of the season, followed by a mini-tournament, so it is an extreme workload,” he added.
Solbakken continued: “He is among those who have the heaviest workload – precisely because his team plays in every tournament and he is their main man.”
It remains unclear whether Haaland will be fit in time for Sunday’s clash at Anfield, but according to The Sun, the striker has been given a short break before returning to Manchester City’s training campus on Thursday.
Solbakken also confirmed that Haaland had been given the option of starting the match against Portugal on the bench, but he turned it down.
“Erling probably could have played the final 45 minutes against Portugal. It was discussed,” Solbakken said.
“But he has had some very bad feelings and experiences with that. He has experienced coming on in the League Cup, and it wasn’t something that worked well for him,” he added.
Ahead of the match, City will assess the fitness of Nico O’Reilly and Antoine Semenyo, as both players continue their recovery from injuries.
England manager Thomas Tuchel described O’Reilly’s issue as “minor”, while Ghana Football Association president Kurt Okraku said that Semenyo had suffered swelling in his foot.
As for Liverpool, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo picked up injuries while on international duty, while Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni and Federico Chiesa are also expected to miss the match.
