Erling Haaland signed an impressive long-term contract with Manchester City last season. However, the Norwegian striker will certainly be particularly interested in the potential release terms in this deal.
One clause allows Haaland to leave the Etihad to find a new destination if Man City lose their inherent appeal. Currently, the Norwegian striker is pocketing a whopping £500,000 a week, making him the highest-paid player in the Premier League. However, don't confuse, this "scoring machine" does not feel satisfied.
Since signing, Haaland has seen Man City's dominance in the domestic arena stunt. The Norwegian striker won a historic treble in his first season playing for The Citizens. However, last season, Guardiola's side lost the Premier League title and were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Real Madrid. They also lost in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, ending a season without a trophy.
This is certainly not the reason why Haaland decided to stick with the blue half of Manchester for most of his career. Perhaps that is why his patience is gradually running out.
The Norwegian striker has been unhappy with Guardiola's Man City's loss of the advantage over Monaco in the Champions League. Despite taking the lead twice, they still let their opponents equalize.
" Nico's pass was excellent and the first goal was really great. Haaland played really well. We created one or two more chances, and all the attacking midfielders had a chance. Phil Foden also had a chance today. In general, the positions were played well and we hardly gave Monaco a chance.
They defend very deeply and tightly, something we didn't expect with the way they usually play. I felt we played very well. When the game is so close, we have to defend better in set pieces. Anyway, we will accept this point" - the Spanish captain said.
Haaland has every reason to be disappointed when looking back at what happened. His 2 goals were enough for The Citizens to have the opportunity to leave with all 3 points. However, not for the first time this season, Haaland's explosive performances and impressive goalscoring ability have been overshadowed by weak defense.
"This result is not good enough. Of course, I'm not happy that we didn't win. The whole team made unnecessary mistakes in the second half and it was clear that we didn't play well enough. We didn't deserve three points.
We need more energy. I didn't think the recent performance was enough. Every match in the Champions League is very difficult. Remember last year, when we were eliminated. Not many teams can win both of the opening matches" - Haaland admitted.
Man City are lucky to have Haaland - one of the best strikers in Europe at the moment, with 52 goals in just 50 matches in the Champions League. In all competitions, he has scored 135 goals in 154 matches since joining the team in 2022.
However, at this time, Haaland must have wondered if his goals were still meaningful when Man City's defense could not keep a clean sheet. The Citizens still left too many gaps for the opponent's counter-attacks.
Haaland deserved more than that. And Guardiola's task now is to find a way to keep the people behind Haaland strong, to ensure that the results from the goals do not become meaningless.
