• Saturday, April 27, 2024
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BusinessDay

Haaland addresses Man City future amid Real Madrid links

Haaland-trophy

Erling Haaland said he is happy at Manchester City and not focused on signing a contract extension amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old, widely regarded as one of the best strikers in world football, has been linked with a big-money move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, who are known to be in the market for a new attacker this summer.

Recent reports have suggested Man City have plans to extend Haaland‘s contract at the Etihad beyond the summer of 2027 when his current deal is due to expire.

But Haaland insists he remains happy at Man City.

“I’m really happy, especially with the people that I’m surrounded by. The manager, the directors, the board are a group of amazing people and I’m really happy,” Haaland told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of Man City’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie with Copenhagen.

“If I say this now, it is probably going to be a massive headline… tomorrow you never know what the future brings, but I’m happy and you can write this but you also have to write everything I said right before.

“My focus mainly now is on the pitch. There are a lot of games. Two days ago there was the Manchester Derby, now it is the Champions League and then on Sunday against Liverpool. I think I should focus on that, I don’t think I should focus on anything else at the moment.”

Since joining Man City from Borussia Dortmund in July 2022, the Norwegian striker has scored a remarkable 80 goals in 84 appearances across all competitions, breaking several goalscoring records in the process.

Haaland has found the net 28 times in 31 matches so far this season, most recently following up a five-goal haul in a 6-2 FA Cup win over Luton Town last week with a strike in City’s 3-1 derby triumph over Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Asked about his motivation to continue winning trophies at Man City, Haaland added: “You can think about it in two ways, one thing is I came here and won it. The other thing, I am 23, I have a taste of winning. When I feel this I want to win it again.”

Haaland is currently the top scorer in the Premier League with 18 goals and also leads the scoring charts in the Champions League with five strikes, level with four other players.