Manchester City have welcomed Rodri and Erling Haaland back to training ahead of the final four games of the Premier League campaign and this summer's Club World Cup.

If Pep Guardiola could have chosen the two most important players at his disposal, the names of his star striker and talismanic midfielder may very well have been near the top of the list. Rodri's ACL tear back in September sparked a ruinous run of form for the dethroned champions which crippled their attempt to defend the Premier League title.

Just as Guardiola seemed to have discovered a solution to the Rodri-less midfield conundrum, Haaland was bound to the sidelines with an ankle injury in March.

By deploying a new compact 4-2-2-2 system, effectively replacing Rodri and Haaland with two players, Guardiola has seen City reach the FA Cup final and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League.

City's conclusion to the campaign has been given an extra boost by the return of Rodri and Haaland to full team training. The centre-back duo of Nathan Ake and John Stones are not yet back on the grass.

Guardiola refused to be drawn on whether either Rodri or Haaland feature in the Premier League again. "We are really pleased that Erling is back and that Rodri is back in the training sessions," the Catalan beamed. "The moment the official doctor says Rodri can start to play minutes - after that he will start to play minutes, but the doctors have to tell me.

"It was a difficult injury. It was an injury seven to 11 months, the doctor said. Every day Rodri is making more sessions but we have to wait so he doesn't make a step backwards and get injured again so we have to be careful.

"Every training session he feels better and when the doctor says Rodri is stable and can start to play - after that he is going to come back."

The Etihad outfit host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday before fixtures against Southampton, Fulham and Bournemouth. Guardiola's side also have the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace on 17 May, although it's expected that Rodri and Haaland will be saved for this summer's Club World Cup.

City join Chelsea as one of two clubs involved in the inaugural edition of FIFA's expanded tournament staged in Miami. Guardiola's side have been paired with Morocco outfit, Hernan Crespo's Wydad AC from UAE and Serie A giants Juventus.