Haaland uses career history to deflect Manchester City charges question

Erling Haaland has dismissed questions about Manchester City’s alleged financial rule breaches with a joke about his youth career, while insisting his long-term future remains with the club.

The Norway striker was speaking after scoring in his country’s 3-1 Nations League victory over Wales, managed by Craig Bellamy. He was asked about the Premier League case involving more than 100 alleged breaches by Manchester City.

Haaland responded by listing the teams he had played for during the period linked to the allegations.

“In 2009, I played for Bryne Under-9s, in 2010 Under-10s and in 2011 Under-11s,” he said. “In 2012 I played for Under-12s and then Under-13s. Shall we continue with the list? We do not need to go through all of it.”

He then continued: “In 2014 I played for Under-14s, and in 2015 for Under-15s and the national team. After that I played for Under-16s, I think. In 2016 I moved into the first team, second team and youth team at Bryne.”

Haaland added that he joined Molde in 2017 and remained there in 2018, playing for both the first team and Molde 2, as well as spending some time with the youth side.

“It is difficult for me to answer because it is a legal battle,” he said. “It is a case between the Premier League and Manchester City, and a specialist commission will deal with it. Am I supposed to answer that? I am not really sure.”

He also joked that several Norway team-mates who had been at Manchester City during the period in question might be better placed to discuss the case.

“I think quite a few Norwegian players were at the club during that period,” Haaland said. “There was Abdisalam Ibrahim, Martin Samuelsen, Omar Elabdellaoui and Kjetil Haug. I think there were others, but I cannot remember their names.”

Haaland said he did not know enough about the proceedings to comment further and had not read much about them.

“My focus is on trying to perform at my best for Manchester City,” he said. “It is the club I signed a five-year contract with in 2022, and then renewed my contract for nine and a half years at the end of 2024. I think that says everything. I am a Manchester City player and I am very happy to be there.”

Asked whether the case had affected his thinking about his future, Haaland said his decision to sign a lengthy new contract reflected his confidence in joining the club.

“I understand you want a headline here, but as I said, I signed a long-term contract in 2024,” he said. “I think I made a very good decision to join Manchester City in 2022, and we can all agree on that.”

Haaland pointed to the trophies he had won and his progress on and off the pitch, before saying City would try to improve their league form against Fulham. He added that his immediate focus was Norway’s match against Denmark.