Rival bosses point to Chelsea as Man City announcement shocks the Premier League
“It’s exceptional news for all of us at the club,” said manager Pep Guardiola. “When one player decides to sign this type of contract it’s because he wants to show how he wants to be here. It’s the trust of the club to Erling – the club knows perfectly how professional he is. His commitment every day and every game to show his talent.”
Deal is ‘record breaking’
Haaland’s deal will keep him at the Etihad Stadium for another nine seasons once the current campaign comes to and end. According to Fabrizio Romano the contract includes a “record salary” and claims it is one of the highest in the history of football.
Of his decision to commit his future, the Norwegian international said: “I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club.
Manchester City is a special club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.
“I also want to thank Pep, his coaching staff, my teammates and everyone at the club as they have all helped me so much in the past couple of years. They have made this such a special place to be and now I am City no matter what.
I want to keep developing, keep working to get better and look to do my best to try and help us achieve more success going forward.”
After the news of Haaland’s contract, Liverpool manager Arne Slot was asked his thoughts about the funds being spent by rival clubs He pointed to the money Chelsea have spent in recent years as he spoke about the size of investment in the Premier League. He said: “Not particularly about the investment but we know how good we have to be every single day to compete in this league. It is not only the club you are referring to [City], Chelsea also spend £1.2bn, (Manchester) United spend an incredible amount.
“Every team spends a lot of money over here, that’s why it’s such an interesting league to be part of. Some seasons this club spends a bit more, other seasons other clubs spend a bit more. That’s what makes this league so intense and so difficult to win.
But that’s also the reason why we want to be here.
You want to compete against the best, with the best, and we are very happy with the team we have at the moment and we are still able to compete with all the teams that are spending incredible amounts of money.”
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was also asked about the agreement and he too referenced Chelsea, given the number of players they have committed to contracts at Stamford Bridge beyond 2030: “Yeah it’s interesting.
Obviously the player is really happy and I’m sure the club is really happy. He is still a relatively young man and it’s a commitment from both.
It’s not unusual in other sports, particularly in American sports. It might be something, I know Chelsea did a couple of longer term ones as well, the way clubs are going in the future depending on how globally the game is moving.
