By Daily Sports Nigeria on December 9, 2022

Manchester City star Erling Haaland looked in prime condition as he returned to training ahead of the Premier League’s restart and insists that missing the World Cup has put him in ‘the best possible place’.

The Norwegian striker, who says he ‘can’t wait’ for the league to restart, has been with Pep Guardiola and other members of the squad at a warm weather training camp in Abu Dhabi since Monday.

Haaland – who has already scored 18 goals in 12 games this season – has been joined by other first-teamers Riyad Mahrez, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Scott Carson, Sergio Gomez, Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis and several Elite Development Squad players.

Although the prolific striker has dreams of representing Norway at a World Cup, he says that the training camp has been a ‘good opportunity to reset’.

‘Of course every player wants to be at the World Cup. It’s my dream to represent my country there and I’ll work hard to make sure that I do that one day,’ he told The National News.

‘But the break has been positive. I’ve had the chance to rest, to take my mind off football for a few weeks and put myself in the best possible place to return. I can’t wait for it to start again. I’m raring to go.’

Haaland was pictured being put through the paces alone in training as he steps up his regime before Man City’s return to action against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and Leeds – where his father played – in the Premier League.

Before that, Haaland and Co are due to play in a friendly against Girona on December 17.

The City squad also had a visitor in the form of chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak who stopped by to see how Guardiola and his players were preparing. 

Haaland is feeling positive about the return of the Premier League and says he is ‘pleased’ with how he has started.

He added: ‘But it’s not about me. It’s about the team, how we’re performing and the second half of the season is the most important now. 

‘We’ve put ourselves in a good position and we’ve had lot of strong performances, but we’re second in the league and that’s not where we want to finish. 

‘We have to hit the ground running when we return because we have some tough games across the different competitions and we want to win them all.’

The 22-year-old said that the training camp in Abu Dhabi is a great opportunity ‘to recharge and focus our minds again on club football returning’.

Haaland’s last game for City came in a defeat against Brentford before the World Cup break. It was a rare time this season that the striker did not find himself on the scoresheet. 

Source Sporting Sun

Posted December 9, 2022

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