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6 hours ago
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Erling Haaland says he never considered the repercussions of Manchester City losing their legal battle with the Premier League before he signed his nine-and-a-half‑year contract extension.
It is possible the league champions could be relegated if found guilty of a number of the 100‑plus charges brought against them for breaches of the competition’s financial rules. Haaland simply made plain his confidence in the club’s powerbrokers to achieve the outcome they desire.
City are preparing for their Champions League tie on Wednesday night against Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital; it is a vital game for both clubs as they flirt with slipping below the 24th‑place cut-off in the new-look table which would mean elimination.
But if there is the sense that City are increasingly flexing their muscles after a dismal 13‑game run that began at the end of October – making moves in the transfer market this month, for example – it extended to the sight of their star No 9 making a rare appearance in front of the media.
Haaland, engaging and relaxed, was asked specifically about his thought processes before he committed to the new deal, which was announced by City last Friday and is unprecedented for its length in the Premier League. Had he sought reassurances that if the worst came to the worst with regard to the charges he would have a way out?
“No,” he replied with a laugh. “I haven’t thought of that or anything. I’m confident that the club know what they are doing. And, yeah, in the end … I really don’t think I should speak much about this. I’ve been here for two and a half years so, yeah, I’m confident that the club know what they’re doing.”
City have confirmed the £29.5m signing from Palmeiras of the 19‑year‑old centre‑half Vitor Reis, who supplements the arrival of another central defender – the 20-year-old Abdukodir Khusanov, from Lens. Pep Guardiola said both were ready to compete for Premier League minutes.
City are close to a deal for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush, which will take their January spend beyond £100m, and they are in the market for at least one more new player. It is hard to imagine they would commit to such an outlay if they believed relegation were a possibility.
City appeared to be stripped of their aura of invincibility, their ability to control matches, when they won only once during that damaging 13-match sequence, which featured the defeats at Sporting and Juventus, either side of the home draw against Feyenoord, which has placed their Champions League hopes in jeopardy.
But they have won four of the five games since, Haaland marking his new contract with a goal in the 6-0 win at Ipswich on Sunday. It is one thing to beat Ipswich, along with West Ham and Leicester – as City have done of late – and another to impress against PSG. They are top of Ligue 1 with an unbeaten record, although they have struggled to cope with a tough series of fixtures in Europe.
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“I feel like [there is] a really positive energy in the club,” Haaland said. “It’s been a hard period, everyone knows that but I feel the energy. We’re training really good, we’re over that now and we’re looking ahead, looking forward to tomorrow.”
Haaland admitted the new contract was “unusual, not normal … and that’s something I like”, as he discussed his overall happiness with life at City and in Manchester. He also said he had changed a few things this season in terms of looking after himself, with one of them being “measuring my sleep just to make sure I slept really well”.
Guardiola reported that John Stones had returned to the squad after a one‑month injury layoff, while Rodri has travelled to be a part of things as he recovers from his anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Kyle Walker is not in the squad as he looks to complete his move to Milan.
