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Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku for Friday’s Club World Cup final against Fluminense in Jeddah.
The Citizens have booked their place at the showpiece event courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi-finals on Tuesday, with an own goal from Marius Hoibraten followed by second-half strikes from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva.
Before the contest, Man City was boosted by the return of star playmaker, De Bruyne to first-team training, while both Haaland and Doku were not involved despite travelling to Saudi Arabia.
De Bruyne has been sidelined since August with a hamstring injury but he has recently made progress in his recovery and was back on the grass with his teammates on Monday.
As for Haaland, the striker has missed City’s last three matches with a “bone stress reaction” in his foot, while Doku has been absent from the last four games with a muscle problem.
All three players were left out of Pep Guardiola’s 23-man squad for the semifinal clash against Urawa and watched on from the stands at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
The Man City trio are now ineligible to play in Friday’s Club World Cup final, as tournament regulations set by FIFA state that only the same 23 players selected for the last-four tie are available to feature in the showpiece event.
Citizens’ youngsters, Max Alleyne, Mahamadou Susoho and Micah Hamilton are all said to have replaced Haaland, De Bruyne and Doku in the 23-man squad at the last minute, and they are in contention to feature in the final against Fluminense.
Although the absence of Haaland, De Bruyne and Doku will be considered as a major blow for Man City, Guardiola has confirmed that the former two are still not fit to feature anyway, while the latter is also thought to need more time to make a full recovery.
All three players now face a race against time to be fit for Man City’s next Premier League fixture against Everton at Goodison Park on December 27, before the Citizens conclude 2023 at home to Sheffield United three days later.
Man City will attempt to become world champion for the first time in its history and become just the fourth English team to win the Club World Cup when it faces Fluminense, who beat Al Ahly 2-0 in the semi-final on Monday.
