Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has spent time with ‘Miracle Man’ John Haddad in recent days in a bid to recover from a foot injury in time for the FIFA Club World Cup.
Haaland was forced to miss City’s Premier League win over Luton Town last weekend because of the problem and didn’t travel with the squad to Serbia for the midweek dead rubber against Red Star on matchday six of the Champions League group stage.
Instead, Haaland had gone to Spain to work with renowned biomechanics expert Haddad, who has been given his ‘Miracle Man’ title by the Norwegian media. The player’s relationship with Haddad dates back to his Borussia Dortmund days, starting in 2020, due to a number of injury complaints.
Mario Pafundi, part of City’s physio department, also made the trip to Spain. With the Premier League champions so keen to keep their star asset fit and healthy after injuries saw him miss 33 games for the club and country in the two and a half years prior to arriving in Manchester, Pafundi typically travels with Haaland while on international duty for Norway too.
Haaland was back in Manchester with the rest of the City squad on Thursday after his colleagues had returned from their win in Belgrade. He is not set to feature in the visit of Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon but is part of the squad list for the Club World Cup.
The FIFA competition being held in Saudi Arabia is already underway, but City as UEFA Champions League winners get an automatic bye through to the semi-finals. Pep Guardiola’s side will face Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan on Tuesday evening, with a place in Friday’s final against either Copa Libertadores winner Fluminense or Egypt’s Al Ahly up for grabs.
Auckland City, Al Ittihad and Leon have so far been knocked out.
City are chasing their sixth trophy of 2023, having already claimed the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup so far this calendar year.
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