Much of the conversation during Erling Haaland’s arrival in England in 2022 centered around how long he would actually stay in the Premier League.
This reflection was fueled by information about the release clauses in his contract, and in particular by comments like this one from his father, Alfie, in a documentary filmed during the process of choosing his next club.
“He can stay there (at City) for three or four years at most,” he said on Haaland – the big decision.
It’s always difficult to tell when Haaland is joking and, after speaking to France Football last month, he must have laughed to himself.
“He could stay at City for 15 years because he’s very comfortable and it’s a big club, but I think he wants to prove to himself that he can win in any of the big leagues ” he said.
He then suggested his son could spend three years in the Premier League before tasting life as a footballer in Italy, Spain or France. And yet here we are: Haaland has signed at City until 2034, which will theoretically take him to 12 years at the Etihad.
(Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Haaland will be 34 years old when this contract expires. The player everyone thought would one day play for Real Madrid – in fact, the player who previously hoped to one day play for Real Madrid – has now dedicated his entire career to City.
Maybe he ends up leaving sooner than that, but with this decision he hasn’t made it easy for himself. There were several clauses in his original contract with City, different ways of getting out if he needed or wanted to, but those clauses are no longer there.
It was no secret that Haaland was excited about the idea of working with Pep Guardiola when he signed for City, and one of those clauses in his first contract was linked to the manager’s future. When Guardiola renewed his contract in November 2022, this clause was removed.
This helped pave the way for Haaland’s new contract, although its understandable complexity forced Guardiola to sign another new deal, last November, before Haaland officially agreed to this one.
Guardiola is now under contract until 2027, when Haaland’s original contract was set to expire. The scale of Haaland’s new commitment, Then shows that while he is still very happy to work with Guardiola, his connection with City is much more important.
(Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Haaland has developed a close relationship with president Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who himself gets along famously with Guardiola. The club are working tirelessly to stave off the muscular problems that hampered his time at Borussia Dortmund, ensuring he gets the best treatment and nutrition.
For City, a club that has always hoped to sign Lionel Messi and always has an eye on how much money they can make, Haaland is probably the ideal player. Guardiola has always been the star of the show and his influence on and off the pitch as well as in terms of marketing is always huge, but in Haaland they have an extremely marketable global superstar who they can use to sell merchandise and tickets at home and abroad. .
It’s a perfect match between a club who is always looking to expand into new territories and adopt the latest technology and a player who is exactly the same. It was his team’s idea to integrate it into the Clash of Clans mobile game.
And on the ground, one way or another, it continues to work. Given that Haaland played a remarkable role in City’s treble in his first season and then another Premier League title in his second campaign, there can be no real argument about his value to the team on the ground.
It often seemed like an uncomfortable match tactically, in the sense that Guardiola spent more than half of Haaland’s first season, 2022-23, trying to get the team to work as best it could, having to tweak virtually every other departments to compensate. someone who barely gets involved outside of the penalty box.
He can be a passenger on his bad days, even before the team’s terrible run at the end of 2024, but Guardiola never removed him from the team for tactical reasons like he did with Sergio Agüero, for example.
It must be said that Haaland’s role is why he often looks like a passenger. In some matches he is asked to stay in front of the central defenders and occupy them, creating space for Kevin De Bruyne and others in midfield. That being said, he will live and die by service in the region. Sometimes he is asked to be more involved, sometimes he can chase balls over the top, sometimes he has to hold back long balls from the goalkeeper. This shows how versatile he is willing to be, even if it often goes unnoticed.
When things aren’t working, it’s tempting to wonder if City, under Guardiola at least, might function a little more easily if Haaland left, if City returned to a world of false nines and a million passes, but the The landscape has completely changed under this new contract. Everything must be built around Haaland. He will survive everyone.
Right now, City’s story isn’t as rosy as it usually is at this stage of the season. Their mini-resurgence was halted by a 2-2 draw (2-0 with eight minutes remaining) at Brentford on Tuesday, a result which calls into question whether they are yet out of the disastrous run which resulted in a 13-game win in November and December.
(Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
But Haaland’s new deal suggests he has no long-term concerns. As confusing as it may be to many that City have struggled, there is no doubt at the club that they will be much better once players return from injury and the squad is refreshed.
And what about the 115 (actually 129) accusations, a subject eternally brought up when talking about City’s successes during the Haaland era? The general assumption among football fans is that the club will be found guilty and heavily punished, but if Haaland stays not just for a while, but essentially forever, what does that mean for the situation?
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No one knows for sure at the moment, with a verdict expected in March, but City have always been confident and some, knowing the situation, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, believe the punishment City will face confronted will not be more serious than a good. This remains to be seen but the club’s recent activity in terms of transfers and contract renewals seems to reflect this sentiment. City hadn’t planned to spend a lot of money this month, but the injury situation and poor form changed all that.
At the moment, the club do not seem worried and this is something that rival supporters have started to notice.
Neither the threat of punishment nor the club’s current on-field struggles have stopped Haaland from signing more. This is one of the most remarkable transactions in football by any measure.
(Top photo: Demetrius Robinson for The Athletic – Images: Getty Images)
