Why did Erling Haaland miss Manchester City vs K-League All Stars pre-season friendly?

Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City lost to Cristian Chivu’s Inter Milan in their last match.

For the first time in many years, Erling Haaland’s Manchester City work pre-season off without Pep Guardiola. Enzo Maresca, new head coach, began his journey against Serie A winners Inter Milan.

The UEFA Champions League 2023 finalists met again. This time at the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.

Previously, their last meeting in the UCL was in 2024, after the 2023 season finale. That 2024 match ended 0-0. They now lost 3-1 to Inter Milan in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in pre-season friendly ahead of 2026-27 season.

Man City are coming from a season (2025-26) where they lost out to Arsenal for the Premier League title. Now they will look to get back their crown without Guardiola at the helm.

To prepare for the new season, City started pre-season against Inter Milan. Now they are taking on K-League All Stars. Maresca chose his starting XI with Gianluigi Donnarumma as goalkeeper.

Rico Lewis, Joško Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden are some of the names included to kick-start their second pre-season match. One notable absentee was Erling Haaland.

Why did Erling Haaland miss Manchester City vs K-League All Stars pre-season friendly?

The Norway forward was not named in the squad once again. Erling Haaland was heavily involved for his national team at the FIFA World Cup 2026. All thanks to his seven goals, Norway managed to punch above their weight in the summer tournament.

They pushed reached the quarter-finals where they narrowly lost to England (2-1). Haaland hasn’t returned to his club. He is taking an extended break after participating in World Cup.

It is in line with City’s reported workload management plan. Expect Haaland to come back in a few weeks and further impress new boss Enzo Maresca.