Haaland has not played for City since the early December defeat to Aston Villa, missing an unbeaten run of nine victories and a draw.
His first season at City saw him score an unprecedented 52 goals in 53 matches as we won an historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League Treble.
Despite missing almost two months of football due to a stress reaction in his foot, the 23-year-old remains well in the hunt for a second successive Golden Boot with 14 goals to his name in this league campaign.
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Our No.9 has now resumed full training and Guardiola has declared him available for selection for Wednesday night’s meeting with Burnley.
While the boss has asked for patience while Haaland gets back up to speed, he has noticed that the striker is eager to get going.
“He needed time but now he feels better and he has trained four, five, six times and he feels good. Two months out so he needs time for rhythm and everything,” he said.
“He has been bored. These guys want to play but he refreshed his mind. In the summer he came back a little bit tired.
“For the first time in his life last season he played this many games and the tension in the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League. He was a little bit tired mentally.
“It helps to be fresh and think ‘wow, I want to play!’. For the last part of the season maybe he is going to help us.”
Speaking in this afternoon’s press conference ahead of our final training session before the Burnley clash, Guardiola didn’t confirm whether Haaland would start against Vincent Kompany’s side.
“I want to see training,” he said.
“I didn’t think much about the team selection but I have to see something because Vinnie makes different shapes and we have to reflect a little bit more.”
Haaland’s return will bring added competition for places at centre forward, where Julian Alvarez has started eight of the last 10 matches.
The Argentine has performed well in that role and now has 13 goals across all competitions this season.
Having filled in for Kevin De Bruyne in an attacking midfield position earlier in the campaign, Alvarez has proven his versatility.
With record breaking Haaland now back in the ranks, Guardiola is relishing the opportunity to pick his stars that in form and full of confidence.
“When we are all the squad it depends on how they perform if they have more minutes or less minutes,” he said.
“They have to compete. In training sessions I see many things. Of course I want everyone involved but it depends on how they perform.
“He [Alvarez] has been so important, why should it be different now on?”
The absence of Haaland and De Bruyne has also been good news for Phil Foden, who is enjoying an incredible campaign in a more central role than he’s previously been known for at senior level.
Foden progressed through City’s Academy playing across the midfield and has grasped his chance to star at the heart of the team again with 11 goals and eight assists so far this season.
With De Bruyne making a starring return to action against Newcastle earlier this month, Guardiola says there’s no reason the Belgian can’t play in the same midfield as Foden.
“Against teams that play five in the back we could do it,” he stated.
“Against teams that have a lot of quality we have to drop a little deeper or defend a bit. There are adjustments that maybe we should do.
“Of course they can play together because they have done it.”
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