By Ben Dinnery

15th Dec, 2022 | 4:50am

Ben Dinnery issues 'scary' Erling Haaland claim as Man City footage emerges

Erling Haaland could be even better for Man City in the second half of the season and it is “scary”.

That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider. 

In training footage shared by Man City last week (8 December), Haaland was spotted training alone and away from the squad in their session back after the break.

The 22-year-old missed Norway’s recent friendly matches and only started one of City’s last five games before the break.

“You need your better players to be available, particularly in the second half of the season where it’s going to be tough and demanding when the games are coming thick and fast,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.

“City are fighting on all fronts really and you bring the likes of Haaland because you hope he’s going to make the difference in the Champions League and bring the trophy home for Pep Guardiola.

“Therefore he’s a vital cog in that. He’s not the only one who can play that role but he’s certainly unique in his skillset and what he can offer that team.

“We’ve seen that and he’s very much hit the ground running. It’s easy to forget it’s just his first season, he’s still adapting and he’s still young.

“There’s probably more to come from him, including better performances, which is scary.

“You’ve got to be doing everything you possibly can to protect him. We know that he came into that break carrying that slight problem and didn’t finish that first half of the campaign as he would have liked but he got through that and City got through that.

“They’ll be looking for a big second half of the season from him.”

In other news, the Man City owners are working on a “dream” deal almost 10 years in the making.