Three players must step up amid Haaland injury blow to save City's season (2025)

Erling Haaland is set for a spell on the sidelines after injuring his ankle in Manchester City's FA Cup win at Bournemouth.

There is no getting around it, losing Erling Haaland for an indefinite spell in the run-in is an almighty blow for Manchester City.

The Blues have a top four spot to secure and it is still far from guaranteed, while they have a difficult FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Wembley. Without Haaland's 21 Premier League goals, City would be 17 points worse off (and might not still be in the FA Cup), so in a season where they have struggled it is hugely significant to lose a player with 30 goals in all competitions.

Haaland will almost certainly lose his two-season hold on the Premier League Golden Boot - he is six goals shy of Mo Salah and will now miss most of the run-in - and his absence won't help the incorrect narrative that he's had a poor season.

But City cannot spend any time to wonder about things like that. They are in a seven-horse race to finish in the top five with only two remaining places realistically remaining for Champions League qualification. They won't have a better chance to win the FA Cup in a season where everything has gone wrong, but must beat Forest and then Aston Villa or Crystal Palace - having failed to beat each of those in three of the four fixtures so far against the trio.

The blow is cushioned by the sight of Omar Marmoush scoring within a minute of replacing Haaland at Bournemouth with some instinctive number nine play. He arrived as a nine from Eintracht Frankfurt and has 25 goals in all competitions this season and 15 assists - that's more goal involvements than Haaland in fewer games - so Marmoush can prove his £63m signing in the coming weeks.

However, Marmoush is more of a striker who needs players closer to him, as his Bournemouth goal showed. Haaland likes the ball in front of him or crossed in from out wide. Marmoush will need the likes of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Savinho to adapt their games, however that also presents an opportunity.

Foden has underperformed this season from his Player of the Year brilliance last term. He will not only need to adapt to playing with Marmoush now, but step up with more goals too and end 2024/25 on a high. The same goes with De Bruyne who has shown his age but can lead City to a top four place without relying on Haaland.

Doku - worryingly short of assists for Haaland over two seasons together (two from 58 shared appearances) - can increase his output with a different kind of striker to work with.

Haaland's injury has the potential to truly cost City in a season where the injury blows just keep raining down. It also has the potential to prove a January signing right and help three underperformers save their individual seasons.

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