Pep Guardiola is confident that Erling Haaland will remain loyal to Manchester City, despite reports continually pushing Barcelona’s interest in the prolific striker.
Barça have been linked with Haaland for some time, forced to consider a future without current No. 9 Robert Lewandowski, who is out of contract next summer—albeit with an option to extend by 12 months—and celebrated his 37th birthday in August.
Haaland, a striker who has scored 318 senior career goals for club and country by the age of 25, is the obvious dream replacement for the Catalan giants.
“Can you tell me one club that wouldn’t dream of Erling Haaland?” Guardiola responded when the transfer links were put to him. “I understand Barcelona dream of Erling, and all the clubs in the world. If Erling would not be with us, it would be a dream for Man City to have Erling.”
What currently gives City enormous power is the decade-long contract announced last season, which ties Haaland to the Manchester club until the summer of 2034.
Guardiola suggested that Haaland would not have signed such a deal if he didn’t plan to honour it.
“What is going to happen, honestly, I don’t know. I know he has a long contract here and I think he’s doing really well and scoring a lot of goals. I had the feeling the team helps him a lot and gives him a lot of actions where he is able to score a goal,” the City manager explained.
“I think Erling isn’t stupid enough to sign something he doesn’t want to accomplish, that is for sure. But football, who knows what is going to happen in the next time. Nobody knows.”
