Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has raised a state of ambiguity about Erling Haaland's position on joining the Club World Cup.
The Norwegian international has been absent from City for a week due to injury, and the Spanish coach confirmed that the player will not join the Crystal Palace match on Saturday unless “a surprise occurs.”
Guardiola spoke at the press conference for the Crystal Palace match, saying, “I am not worried about Haaland, it is just a muscle strain, just fatigue and not a serious injury.”
He also added, "Haaland will not participate in the Crystal Palace match, but perhaps he will surprise me. Players recover from these injuries faster, and sometimes they are late. I don't like to know."
As for Haaland's participation in the Club World Cup, he said, "I hope that he will be able to travel with us to Saudi Arabia. Tomorrow after the match we will know whether he is able to participate in the first or second match."
He concluded, "We will work day by day and week by week... and the moment he no longer feels pain, he will participate."
Manchester City will face the winner of the match between Urawa Reds and Club Lyon in the semi-finals next Tuesday, and if they win, they will play Fluminense, Al-Ahly, or Al-Ittihad in the final on Friday.
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