Erling Haaland drops hint on his future amid Real Madrid links

Almost two months on from his last game with the treble holders, Erling Haaland finally returned to the pitch. The Norwegian came on as a substitute in Manchester City’s game against Burnley, replacing another winter ‘addition’ in Kevin de Bruyne, and ended up playing in the final 19 minutes of the game.

Taking advantage of his return to the field, the striker spoke with the official Manchester City podcast, where he highlighted both the lifestyle in Manchester and his bond with the club: “I like the vibes, the positivity of the fans when I meet them, the jokes, English people in general.... I love joking around like them. We are similar in Norway, we like jokes.”

Haaland says City are ‘getting better’

The Norwegian, who has been in Manchester for just a season and a half and has a contract until 2027, also spoke about his first season at the club: “It took me months to come to terms with [what we achieved] last season because it was so long and had so many games. We came back for pre-season and thought, ‘Are we back already?’ Now we’re concentrating more and we’re getting better.”

Erling Haaland has only just begun his journey as a Citizen, and from his statements it seems he is still a long way from leaving the Etihad Stadium. “There are still a lot of things to improve. When you play so many games, it’s difficult to train because you have to prepare and do the things that get you fit for the next game. I want to get even better with the team, be more solid with the team and perform in the biggest games. And I want to recreate the things we did last season...,” the Norwegian added on the club’s official podcast.

What did Haaland say about his future?

Erling Haaland believes that he is respected in England, something that contrasts with what could happen in Spain, where there has been a lot of talk about his possible future move to Real Madrid, where players such as Jude Bellingham have been encouraging him to move. “People see us on the street, even Manchester United fans, and we joke with each other. People leave me alone, to a certain extent. I’m a soccer fan. It’s easy for my family to come from Norway, just across the sea, we are very close....,” he analyzed.

The City number ‘9′ recognises that he has enjoyed “from day one” his time at City thanks to the “good vibes in the dressing room”. For Erling, Manchester City is “a place I want to come to and an environment I wanted to be in. I think that showed on the pitch”. While the side won a historic treble in Erling Haaland’s first season at the club, the striker finished as European Golden Boot after finishing the 2022-2023 season as top scorer in the Premier League (36) and Champions League (12).

Will Erling Haaland play against Brentford?

The rumours ahead of the game are that the player is indeed set to make the starting XI for the trip to London to face Brentford, but not before manager Pep Guardiola commented on his forward’s future at the club. Manchester City are five points from the top of the table but have two games in hand over leaders Liverpool, who lost to Arsenal at the weekend, blowing the Premier League title race wide open.

The 23-year-old striker has featured 16 times in all competitions for Manchester City this season and, despite his injury woes, has scored 14 goals as well as having provided 4 assists in a team that is once again pushing to win everything on offer in European football. Haaland had been suffering from a foot injury but now looks set to start for the first time since December 2023.