Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has vowed that his side “will find a solution” to their latest injury problem after star striker Erling Haaland was ruled out for up to seven weeks.
Haaland came off during the 2-1 win over Bournemouth in the FA Cup last weekend, having injured his ankle under a challenge from Cherries midfielder Lewis Cook.
And though the full extent of the injury is not yet known, Guardiola told the media that City’s club doctors told him the 24-year-old would be out for “between five and seven weeks”.
“Sometimes there are years where these kinds of things happen. It’s happened all season,” said Guardiola during his pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s midweek game against Leicester City.
“We don’t have another player with his skills or specific qualities we know that but we have to adapt.
“We will find a solution for the players that we have with different skills and qualities. We will find that,” he added.
City face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final in just under four weeks’ time, with a Manchester derby coming up this weekend at Old Trafford.
January signing Omar Marmoush came on for Haaland and scored the winner against Bournemouth, and the Egyptian could see plenty of playing time in the absence of his Norwegian teammate.
Nevertheless, Guardiola referenced his side’s ability to find surprising solutions to attacking problems, telling the conference that “for many years we play with different ways up front and it depends on the qualities of the players”.
“We need players with other qualities and we have to bring more players close to the box,” Pep added.
“Erling’s numbers again have been exceptional and is an incredible threat for many things with long balls and his sense of goal but we have to adjust.
“I know which players have a sense of goal more than other ones,” explained Pep, adding that “everyone knows these players and we have to get them close to the box”.
City’s first test without Haaland is a home match against Leicester on Wednesday, 2 April, before the Manchester derby on Sunday.
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