Ancelotti plays down Haaland to City: “This squad got me to a Champions League final”
Real Madrid may have missed out on Erling Haaland, who is now set to join Manchester City, but Carlo Ancelotti is happy with his side.
Erling Haaland is a “great player” who is joining a “great club” in Manchester City, but Carlo Ancelotti suggested he is not overly upset at missing out on the much-coveted striker.
City confirmed on Tuesday they have reached an agreement to sign Haaland, who had been linked with an array of clubs across Europe – Ancelotti’s Real Madrid among them.
Haaland’s 85 goals in 88 games since joining Dortmund in January 2020 is bettered only by Robert Lewandowski (122) and Kylian Mbappé (89) across Europe’s top five leagues.
But Madrid already boast a prolific striker of their own in Karim Benzema, whose 57 direct goal involvements in all competitions is unmatched in the continent’s major divisions.
While Ancelotti has made no secret that he is a fan of Haaland, he is happy with his current squad, having already wrapped up his first LaLiga title and reached the Champions League final thanks to their sensational comeback against City last week.
Ancelotti: “Haaland’s a great player, City’s a great club”
“I don’t really like to talk about this,” Ancelotti said at a news conference on Wednesday when asked about Haaland’s imminent switch to the Premier League leaders.
“He’s a great player, City’s a great club. But I’m sticking with my squad, which has led me to enjoy another Champions League final.”
Madrid set up a showdown with Liverpool in Paris by overcoming City in a remarkable semi-final tie that they trailed 5-3 with a minute of normal time remaining.
Los Blancos followed that up with a 1-0 loss to rivals Atlético Madrid last weekend in a game that saw Ancelotti make seven changes to his starting line-up.
Ancelotti confirmed the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior will each return for Thursday’s visit of Levante, who have lost just one of their last four trips to face Madrid in LaLiga.
Despite the title being secured with four games to spare, Ancelotti insists his side are not yet focusing on their upcoming clash with Liverpool at the Stade de France on May 28.
“The time we have spent together since the Atlético match has been looking only at tomorrow’s game,” he said.
“It’s important we give minutes to those who didn’t play against Atlético, and then we have another game on Sunday. We are not preparing for the final.
“Tomorrow is a game that we have to play well to win. The objective is the same: keep a good rhythm, play well with the ball and win the match.
“If you lose competitiveness, you will not do well. They must rest, but also play in order to reach 100 per cent.
“All this time it has been said that Ancelotti did not rotate and now that he does, nobody is happy. You have to give minutes to players.”
Madrid still in pole position for Mbappé
Even with Haaland no longer on the market, Madrid are expected to strengthen in attack, with Mbappé their main target.
But Ancelotti was once again unwilling to discuss any potential targets, with Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger another rumoured to be on Madrid’s radar. In fact, reports on Tuesday suggested the deal had been done to bring the Germany defender to Santiago Bernabéu on a free transfer.
“After the final there will be time to talk about this. For now, we are just aiming to finish the season well,” he said.
“Talking about the future transfer window is not correct, I don’t want to. I want to talk about tomorrow’s match. It is the day to talk about this, not about alleged new signings.”