Guardiola told Man City ‘could sign new striker’ to replace Haaland as ‘injury update’ emerges

According to reports, Premier League champions Manchester City ‘could sign a new striker’ in January if ‘Erling Haaland’s foot injury worsens’.

Haaland has unsurprisingly made a huge impact at Man City following his move from Borussia Dortmund before the 2022/23 campaign.

The Norway international has 71 goals and 14 assists in his 75 appearances for Man City across all competitions.

Man City‘s form dipped before their trip to face Luton Town on Sunday afternoon as they were winless in four Premier League games.

It was revealed before kick-off on Sunday that Haaland would miss the game as a result of a foot injury. Without him, City were made to work for the victory as they fell behind before Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish scored in their 2-1 win over Luton Town.

It remains to be seen how long Haaland will be out for but an ‘injury update’ has now been provided by Football Insider.

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It is said that ‘Man City could enter the market for a new striker in January if Haaland’s foot injury worsens’. The report adds.

‘A well-placed source has told Football Insider that “the money is there” if Pep Guardiola wants to dip into the transfer market in January.

‘It is believed there is no massive rush to get any deals over the line in mid-season, but injuries could dictate City’s transfer policy as they lag behind title rivals.’

Speaking to reporters ahead of Man City’s Champions League group stage finale against Red Star Belgrade, midfielder Mateo Kovacic recognised that they need to “give 20% more” while they are without Haaland.

“Obviously we missed key players like Erling and Kevin, it’s never easy when you miss such big players,” Kovacic told reporters.

“But they are not in the moment here, we need everybody to give 10, 20 per cent more like we did (on Sunday) and then we can win games.”

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Reflecting on Man City’s 2-1 win over Luton Town, Kovacic added: “The team was confident because we were playing good. We had not bad results, some draws where we could have won.

“This is football sometimes, then it’s about how you come back. Today we came back in a good way.

“A big three points. We showed overall great football, especially in the first half we played very well, we found a lot of players in the pockets which is what we want.

“When you do your thing and insist, the goals come. We could have scored even more, but I’m happy with the three points.

“We saw in recent games that big teams can struggle here. We showed that even when the circumstances are like this we can do our best and play good football.

“This team has shown over the years that in the tough moments, they are there, and they were there again (on Sunday).”