Erling Haaland’s new £500k-a-week deal and what it says about Man City’s 115 expenses
Erling Haaland’s new lucrative contract is a major worry for the rest of the Premier League with the deal showing what he and Manchester City make of their 115 charges
As statements of intent go, it’s like a slap in the face to the rest of the Premier League.
Erling Haaland, the most lethal goalscorer in world football, will have light blue blood coursing through his veins for the rest of his career. That’s the plan, anyway.
We all know contracts can mean little or nothing in the cut-throat world of top-level football. Like UEFA president Alexsander Ceferin once said, it is a world full of “liars and snakes”. But Haaland is a man of his word.
He doesn’t speak too often, but when he does he gives off that aura of truth and conviction. Having signed a new 10-year-deal worth more than £500,000-a-week, that will keep him at the Etihad until 2034, Haaland said: “They have made this such a special place to be and now I am City no matter what.”
No matter if Pep Guardiola does leave the English champions when his own new deal runs out in 2026. And, much more pertinently, no matter if City get found guilty of breaking Premier League spending rules and suffer damaging punishments, like a transfer ban, or worse still, relegation down the Leagues.
The sight of Haaland strutting his stuff in Swindon on a cold Tuesday night would be something to behold. But the staggering news of Haaland’s decision to pledge the bulk of his career to City, suggests both him and the club are convinced this isn’t going to happen.
And what a striker City now have locked in for the next decade. Haaland might not dominate games or even touch the ball as much as some would like him to.
But when he does, he tends to score, and that’s a commodity that’s utterly priceless in football. 111 goals in 125 games and counting since arriving at City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
Before City lured Haaland to the Etihad, Guardiola had spent years toiling – and failing – to win the Champions League. It was an itch he just couldn’t scratch.
Then Haaland came on the scene and not only did his goals help them become kings of Europe for the first time in history, but City won the Treble for good measure. That’s one heck of an impact.
And there’s been no evidence since then that Haaland will ever stop scoring. It has been a woeful season for the champions. Embarrassing even at times. But the landscape in the blue half of Manchester suddenly looks much, much brighter.
