Manchester City will have to make do without Erling Haaland for the next few weeks with the striker ruled out of action with an ankle injury.
Haaland required treatment during the 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over AFC Bournemouth on March 30 and was forced off in the second half.
The Norway international, who has scored 21 goals across 28 Premier League games this season, left the Vitality Stadium on crutches.
So, exactly how long is Haaland expected to be out for with injury?
How long will Erling Haaland be out for?
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Haaland has been ruled out for between five and seven weeks, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
That makes Haaland a huge doubt for the FA Cup final on May 17 if City manage to defeat Nottingham Forest in the last four of the competition.
If there are no setbacks, Haaland should be able to feature in the final Premier League game of the season on May 25 against Fulham before the Club World Cup across June and July, and he could be back even earlier if his period of injury is closer to the five-week mark.
Which games will Erling Haaland miss?
With Erling Haaland set to miss at least the next five weeks of action, the Norwegian could be absent from:
- Leicester City (home) – April 2 – Premier League
- Manchester United (away) – April 6 – Premier League
- Crystal Palace (home) – April 12 – Premier League
- Everton (away) – April 19 – Premier League
- Aston Villa (home) – Rearranged, date TBC – Premier league
- Nottingham Forest (neutral) – April 26 – FA Cup semi-final
- Wolves (home) – May 2 – Premier League
If he’s out for the full seven-week period, Haaland will also miss the Premier League clash at Southampton and a potential FA Cup final. If City lose in the semi-finals, though, Haaland would miss a top-flight fixture with AFC Bournemouth instead.
‘They told me the doctors between five to seven weeks,’ Guardiola told reporters.
‘So hopefully the end of the season and by the Club World Cup he will be ready.
‘Sometimes there are years when these kinds of things happen. It happened all season.
‘I would say that it could have been different if it was the end of the season [before the Club World Cup].
‘So with all the injuries we have had this season, I’m so sorry for them and for Erling as well. [I wish him] a good recovery, as speedy as possible, then come back.’
Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics working with the Premier League, has spoken exclusively to Metro about Haaland’s injury.
‘[It is] highly possible [that Haaland suffered a] syndesmosis sprain, or what is sometimes called a high ankle sprain,’ Smith told Metro.
‘The syndesmosis ligament wraps around your ankle and sort of binds it all together and keeping the joint held together.
‘It is a really difficult injury because every time you weight bear and your lower leg pushes into your ankle it squeezes apart. If you’ve damaged that ligament is starts to open that up and splay it.
‘It is a more traditional injury to get in rugby or American football and it comes from getting your foot squashed like that in a tackle and having your foot and ankle almost pushed back up into that joint and separates it.
‘It looked very similar to how something like that would happen and if that’s the case, depending on how bad the sprain is you could be looking at anything from four to almost 12 weeks.’