Erling Haaland trained individually as Manchester City got their warm-weather camp underway in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Premier League restart.
Haaland is one of seven first-team players who haven't featured at the World Cup and have flown out to Abu Dhabi for a training camp this week. A number of Elite Development Squad players have joined the first-teamers, and training got underway on Wednesday with one eye on the Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool in two weeks and then the Premier League trip to Leeds on December 28.
City have just announced a friendly against sister club Girona next weekend, with players like Haaland and Riyad Mahrez set to be involved - however Haaland looked to be undergoing an individual fitness programme while his teammates worked with the ball in their first training session in Abu Dhabi.
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We've looked over the footage published by City and picked out four talking points:
Haaland trains alone
As most of the 19-strong squad went through some light drills with the ball before breaking into some small-sided games, Haaland was absent, before emerging for a jog with a coach beside him. The rest of the squad welcomed him to the session, before the footage showed Haaland doing some light stretching and jogging on the grass rather than join in the mini-games.
Haaland's workload has been managed carefully since he joined the club in the summer, and he began pre-season training a week later than his teammates during the summer tour of the US. City are mindful of the amount of football Haaland has played recently, and this step is likely to be easing the star striker back into action following his recent injury troubles and also his involvement in Norway's training camp at the end of last month.
Al Mubarak stops by
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was a familiar face at the training session, with City visiting the country of their owners this week. Al Mubarak took time to chat to Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff, as well as with some first team players.
Al Mubarak took time to chat with his number nine Haaland, as well as pulling Mahrez to one side for a catch-up. In City's documentary covering last season's Premier League title win, the chairman said he aims to chat to players and staff whenever he is at the club, and this was further evidence of that approach.
EDS head coach joins the session
With so many under-21 players getting the chance to impress Guardiola this week, it's hardly a surprise to see academy head coach Brian Barry-Murphy as part of the coaching staff in Abu Dhabi. Watching on and offering advice to his youngsters, Barry-Murphy was also pictured in conversation with Guardiola.
It's rare that young players get an opportunity to work so closely with senior coaches, without the majority of first-team players also in the training sessions. So having Barry-Murphy, who knows the youngsters' games inside out, will help bridge the gap from academy to first team and also give the senior coaches more insight into players they might not have worked with before.
Carson leads the way
Scott Carson is the oldest player in the City squad anyway, but with so many other first-teamers absent he is the senior player in Abu Dhabi by some distance. He has often been praised for his role in the dressing room, helping others to progress even if his game-time is limited. In the latest video, Carson can be heard bellowing instructions during games, encouraging youngsters, and keeping standards high.
Even with most of the first team not there, the academy players will get an insight into the mentality needed at City when senior players like Carson are leading by example regardless of who is in front of him. And Carson also showed off his skills as he fired a bouncing ball off the crossbar at the end of a goalkeeping drill, impressing EDS stopper Mikki Van Sas in the process.
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