Erling Haaland Briefly Shelves Football to Hang out With unbeaten UFC star

• Erling Haaland is recovering from a nagging foot injury
• The striker was recently in Abu Dhabi where he linked up with a legend
• On social media, he shared a photo of himself and Khabib Nurmagomedov

Erling Haaland is making good use of the time he has on his hands during the short Premier League break.

The Norwegian is yet to feature for Manchester City in 2024, as he continues to recover from a stubborn foot injury.

Reports however suggest the 22-year-old is back training with the first team, who are currently in in Abu Dhabi for the City's warm weather winter training camp.

When hanging out at elite training camp locations, one is always likely to bump into other big names in sport, and this is exactly what happened to Haaland, who was spotted with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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On X, formerly Twitter, Haaland shared a photo of himself alongside the 35-year-old with the caption, “Great to meet this legend here in Abu Dhabi.”

According to Sportskeeda, Khabib retired from mixed martial arts in 2021 with an exceptional 29-0 record. His last bout was a win against Justin Gaethje via second-round submission at UFC 254.

Despite his retirement, the Russian has still been a present figure in the sports realm, particularly in football.

He is an ardent football fan and is often seen in big games across Europe. Most recently, he attended a Milan game at the San Siro alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Haaland’s possible return date

Haaland also knows a thing or two about succeeding in sports, as he is a treble-winner with Manchester City.

This season, the young striker has been in typical impressive form, scoring 14 Premier League goals and is the current joint top scorer alongside Mohamed Salah.

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According to Manchester Evening News, Haaland is back training with his teammates, although there is no set date for his return.

Pep Guardiola is expected to provide an update on Thursday, on the eve of Manchester City’s FA Cup clash against Tottenham Hotspur.

City’s asking price for De Bruyne

In other news, Manchester City have reportedly set an asking price for Kevin de Bruyne.

While the Cityzens would naturally want to keep arguably the best player in the Premier League, they are aware of potential suitors, and would demand £100m if they are to part ways with the Belgian.