Pep Guardiola gives Man City fitness update on Erling Haaland

Pep Guardiola said that Erling Haaland will play in Manchester City's next match after being left out of the Club America game as a precaution.

Anyone hoping to see the £51m striker in action in Houston for City's first of just two friendlies on their pre-season tour would be disappointed as the Norwegian was named as a substitute and did not make it off the bench. Having not taken part in all of City's training sessions since they returned for pre-season, supporters are anxious to know when they can expect the new signing to be fit and firing.

Guardiola and the player both expect him to be on the pitch against Bayern Munich in Green Bay on Saturday night - a week before the Blues takes on Liverpool in the Community Shield. However, the manager wants his No.9 to be in perfect condition across the season and that means not taking any unnecessary risks with him.

Also read:De Bruyne and Alvarez strike partnership to show Man City Plan B without Haaland

"Next game he will be ready," said Guardiola. "He had niggles and a few problems. We’ll see. He’s trained just two sessions and we didn’t want to take risks. The season is so long.

"He had problems last season and tried to handle it. We want to take care of him and want him fit."

City head to Green Bay for a few days where they will play Bayern Munich before returning to Manchester ahead of their season curtain-raiser with Liverpool before a trip to West Ham on the opening day of the Premier League season.

READ NEXT