Haaland Fitness Concern Grows as Manchester City Prepare for Anfield Trip

Norway manager Stale Solbakken has confirmed that he held a candid discussion with Erling Haaland about the striker's mounting workload before the team's Nations League fixture against Portugal, a match the Manchester City forward left prematurely after signalling to the bench that he could not continue.

Haaland, who has been carrying a substantial burden of minutes for both club and country, was withdrawn in the 67th minute of Norway's 2-1 loss in Porto on Sunday. Before making way for a replacement, television cameras captured him visibly limping, an image that will have alarmed supporters of the Premier League champions with a demanding fixture against Liverpool at Anfield looming on the horizon.

Solbakken stopped short of diagnosing a specific injury when he addressed reporters after the final whistle. Instead, the Norway coach focused on the cumulative toll that a relentless schedule has placed on his star striker, revealing that the two men had spoken at length the day before the Portugal match about how best to manage his physical condition.

The conversation, described by Solbakken as a "heart-to-heart," covered a range of possibilities for the Portugal game. Among the options discussed was the idea of limiting Haaland to a single half of football, a plan that would have preserved some energy in his legs. Solbakken indicated that Haaland ultimately felt uneasy about sitting out any significant portion of the contest, and the forward's discomfort with the proposed arrangement was a factor in the final decision.

"He was tired against Wales," Solbakken explained, referring to Norway's previous outing. "That's why we had a heart-to-heart conversation yesterday. We went through the possible options." The coach also mentioned that Haaland could have played only the second 45 minutes against Portugal, but that the player had strong reservations about such a reduced role. Solbakken expressed satisfaction that Haaland still managed to deliver around an hour of effective performance despite the circumstances.

The statistics underscore the scale of Haaland's recent exertions. Before facing Portugal, he had completed the full 90 minutes in each of Norway's opening three Nations League fixtures, a sequence that included a victory over Denmark and defeats to both Portugal and Wales. Those international commitments followed a demanding beginning to the English domestic campaign with Manchester City, which itself came on the back of a summer in which Haaland helped Norway reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

That World Cup run, in which Haaland was instrumental in rewriting his country's record books, added yet another layer of physical and mental strain to an already congested calendar. The 2026 summer tournament extended Norway's season well beyond the usual conclusion for most international players, leaving Haaland with a shortened recovery period before reporting back to his club for pre-season training.

His recent scoring record for Norway remains extraordinary by any measure. Haaland has now registered 65 goals in only 59 appearances for his country, a strike rate that places him among the most prolific international forwards in the modern game. Yet the two most recent matches, against Wales on Thursday and Portugal on Sunday, have yielded no goals. Notably, those two fixtures were Norway's first since an independent commission published its verdict in Manchester City's long-running financial case, a development that has placed the club under intense scrutiny and could weigh heavily on the entire squad.

The timing of Haaland's fitness concern is far from ideal for Manchester City. The club's first match after the international break is a trip to Liverpool on Sunday, one of the most demanding fixtures in the English football calendar. Adding to the anxiety at the Etihad Stadium is the composition of the squad: Haaland is the only senior, out-and-out striker available to City, meaning there is no like-for-like replacement should he be unable to feature at Anfield.

Solbakken acknowledged this dynamic when discussing the forward's importance to his club side. "He plays pretty much everything on the club team," the Norway coach observed, a remark that captures both Haaland's indispensability to City and the reason his minutes have accumulated so rapidly across all competitions.

The situation presents a delicate balancing act for City's medical and coaching staff. Rushing a fatigued player back into a high-intensity fixture risks turning a manageable issue into a significant layoff, while resting him against Liverpool could compromise the team's attacking threat in a match that often carries title-race implications. The coming days will be crucial as the club assesses Haaland's condition before making a final call on his involvement.

For Norway, meanwhile, Solbakken faces his own set of difficult decisions. The coach must weigh the value of Haaland's presence in future international fixtures against the long-term need to protect a player who is central to the nation's hopes of qualifying for and competing at major tournaments. The "bad vibes and feelings" that Solbakken attributed to Haaland suggest a player who is not only physically drained but also growing frustrated with the demands being placed upon him.

Haaland's reaction to being substituted, and the visible limp that preceded it, will be monitored closely by both his club and his country in the days ahead. What began as a quiet conversation about workload management has now become a genuine fitness scare, with ramifications stretching from Porto to Manchester and potentially to the outcome of one of the Premier League's most anticipated fixtures.