Erling Haaland goes down injured and screams in pain during Man City training

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was spotted writhing in pain during training on Monday, sparking a fresh injury concern for manager Pep Guardiola.

City’s top scorer was taking part in a routine drill when he screamed ‘ah f***’, went down and grabbed hold of his right ankle. Haaland appeared to be in serious discomfort and pulled up the leg of his tracksuit bottoms to assess any potential damage.

It was only when Phil Foden came over to check on the Norwegian that City fears began to subside, with Haaland slowly making his way back up, bent over and taking deep breaths.

Whether any lasting damage was done remains to be seen. Promisingly for the Blues, Haaland continued participating in the training drill a short time after slumping to the turf.

City have already grappled with one major injury scare involving Haaland over the past few days. The 24-year-old did not appear to be moving freely for a spell during Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, though he recovered to see out the devastating 2-1 loss.

Guardiola will need his attacking dynamo if City are to challenge on multiple fronts. Haaland is the only out-and-out striker in the Blues’ squad and he has netted more than half of their Premier League goals this term.

Defeat against the Cherries made it two in a row for City, who were also dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham last week. Liverpool have opened up a two-point gap at the top of the table and Arsenal are expected to come on strong despite their rocky start.

City’s next task is to beat Sporting in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Manager Ruben Amorim will be eager to get one over on the team set to become his local rivals once he takes the reins at Manchester United.

Recent injuries have hit City where it hurts. Oscar Bobb is a long-term absentee and newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who was so instrumental under Guardiola last season, has been sidelined for the campaign with an ACL injury.

Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish – worth a combined £165million – have both been ruled out until after the international break. And John Stones is also a doubt for the Sporting game due to a foot problem which kept him out at the weekend.