Erling Haaland's exclusive interview II has been released from that time. The Norwagian Striker talks about the comment about him from the outside world and his choice to expand the contract with Manchester City.
Relevant link: Interview part I
Bitter supporters of rival Manchester United – still the second most valuable football club in the world, according to Forbes – jump the success of Man City on the economy. According to many men you -fans, since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Royal Family and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates of Abu Dhabi, has bought his oil -fruit players and championships. Meanwhile, Man U's owners, the Glazer family of the US, have charged the club with debts and losses: Man You have not won the premiership in a dozen year. And these fans claim, Haaland is overestimated. “He is a big galloot,” says United supporter Christine Maun, 73, while in March he watches a midweek man U -match in a pub in Manchester. “If he didn't play for the city, he would never score what he scores. He is not a stylish player. Just stands there.”
That is a common knock on Haaland: he is a so-called tap-in trader, a player who converts easy goals while his teammates dribble and pass. Asked to respond to that label, laughs Haaland. “What is the hardest thing in football?” Haaland asks rhetorically. “If you are a tap-in-trader, this means that you score a lot of goals, don't you have the answer. I like it if people call me a tap-in-trader. I think it's great. That means you are doing something good. That many other people cannot.”
Moreover, skill and athletics are needed to position yourself to convert those opportunities. “His football -IQ is outside the charts,” says former Premier League -midfielder Robbie Earle, now an analyst for NBC Sports. “He has to think ahead. He sees photos before most other players see them on the field. It is almost like a mathematician who can work out the algorithm and mystery faster than anyone else.”
It all has a gigantic 9½ years when signing a gigantic contract of 9½ years in January. Haaland undertakes to Man City, although the club is accused of infringements of financial regulations, from the 2009–2010 seasons to 2017-2018, which could lead to fines, stripping championships or even expulsion from the Premier League. Man City has denied the charges and is waiting for a judgment of an independent committee. “I spoke with the bosses, and in the end I believe them,” says Haaland. “It is such a difficult situation for me to even sit there and talk about it, because I wasn't really involved. So I think the club knows what they are doing. They will solve it.”
The contract is the longest in the history of Premier League. “This feels really normal for me to do,” says Haaland about the signing. “They have so much faith in me. Have the good feeling in my body.”
Haaland should not walk along the Atlantic Ocean. Not because his honest skin is so exposed to the fiery sun in Florida (although that is). No, he should be on vacation, recuperating from the gravel of this past season – Where he missed six weeks with ankle injury – and resting his body for the next one, which could seeand playing upwards of 70 games, Cupier League, and Worly, and Worly League, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly League, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly, and Worly, and Worl Cup, which kicks off next June 11 in Mexico City. But the football calendar, always want to cash in on the popularity of players such as Haaland, called for a more expansive club World Cup this season. “Every football player waits for vacation all year round,” says Haaland, while a breeze drives into the ocean. “But also, the people who are now on vacation would like to be here.”
He left the US earlier than expected: on 30 June the Saudi club already arrived Hilal Manchester City with 4-3 in the round of 16 (Haaland scored an equalizer in the second half in that match, alongside two other goals in earlier). It has been that kind of year for Man City. Haaland still finished second in goals per match in the Premier League, behind Mohamed Salah in Liverpool. But rocky moments stood out.
In September a camera caught Haaland and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told to 'stay modest' after Man City scored to draw with the Gunners, 2-2. At a certain point in the game, he also shouted: “Who the F-CK is you?” At Arsenal Rookie Myles Lewis-Skelly. This all caused a row. So during the Rematch in London in February, Arsenal fans could be heard who stay “Stay Hemble” during Arsenal's 5-1 destruction of the road team. They added a derogatory word. When Lewis-Skelly scored a goal in the second half, he imitated the Lotus celebration of Haaland.
Haaland is not a “modest” regret. “I think it is an important sentence that many people should use, including myself,” he says. “It is one of the most important things, as individuals, to do.” He records the songs. “They won the game 5-1,” says Haaland. “So yes, they got me.” And Lewis-Skelly is not the first person to quit the Ritual of Haaland: Brazilian superstar Neymar did the same after scoring for Paris Saint-Germain against Dortmund in a 2020 Champions League match. “If he wanted to use that moment to mock me, that is fair enough for him,” says Haaland. “Whatever he wants to do, he can do.”
In May, Manchester City still had the opportunity to take out a disappointing campaign with a trophy in the FA Cup final in Wembley Stadium. But Crystal Palace won 1-0. Football experts, including the English legend Wayne Rooney, beat Haaland before refusing to make a penalty shot half. Instead, Haaland gave the ball to Marmoush, who came in January to Man City van Eintracht Frankfurt, from the Bundesliga, in January. The Crystal Palace keeper, Dean Henderson, stopped Marmoush's attempt. “Erling Haaland is an attacker of world class, but when we talk about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no way they give that ball away,” Rooney told BBC One.
Haaland does not dispute Rooney's comments. “I shouldn't have given it to a new player,” he says. “So all the responsibility is on me. I put him in this situation. I had a good feeling for him. But I should have taken it myself.”
Man City Manager Pep Guardiola, one of the world's most respected football spirits who won a dozen competition titles in Spain, Germany and England for 16 seasons, has appointed Haaland next season as a leadership council with four people for the team. He is the youngest member of the group for more than three years. “I'm pretty calm in my head,” says Haaland. “That is also a good thing to bring others, even if the situation can be a bit wild.” He already put behind him last season. “I almost forgot until you started talking about it,” says Haaland. “I can't keep thinking about last season. That last season was not good enough, this or that. That is the best part of football. There is always something new that comes. You have to think about what is coming and lives in the present moment.”
Norway has since won all four of his World Cup qualifying competitions so far. I ask Haaland if he thinks the US, who is one of the host countries, is automatically eligible for the World Cup 2026, it can win. Haaland turns the tables and asks me who has a better chance to win, the US or Norway. “You don't have to answer it,” he says. “But Norway will never win the World Cup.” The nation appeared for the last time in the 1998 event. “If we were eligible for the World Cup, it would be if another big nation wins,” says Haaland. “It would be the biggest party ever. Scenes in Oslo would be incredible.”
He is a realist. And a bit of a diplomat. “I don't want to be that guy who says that the US will never win the World Cup, then they actually win it,” says Haaland, through a touch of laughter. “So there is a 1% chance that they will do it. Norway has a 0.5.”
Haaland loves the US the previous day, during the second half of the 2-0 win of Man City on the Moroccan side Wydad AC in Philadelphia, his entrance on the field provided the loudest moment of the game. “I didn't know I was famous in the US,” says Haaland. “Everyone knows who I am.” He watched Yellowstone and would not mind exploring Montana. “Get what the man is, Costner, to drive me around,” he says laughing. While later in the day on the passenger seat of a rental car from a rental car, he is asking the driver to stop until he connects his Bluetooth to play Dronke Thump Dance music-Hailand looks one of the oversized American pick-ups that he admires. “Look at that,” he says. “That is an F-cking car. I go out to ask for a photo.” He was less impressed by a cyber truck that rumbled around Zuid -Florida. “It's so strange,” he says. All traffic lights reminded him that Bryne has none.
He will not even exclude a move to Major League Soccer in the US, à la Messi and Beckham after his deal of the city is closed. “You never know what the future will bring,” says Haaland. “What Messi is doing now is incredible. Also what Beckham did, it's great.”
While our beach time ends, I ask Haaland what comes to him while looking at the ocean. “Freedom,” he says. “If you drive immediately by boat, you are all alone. I feel that it is freedom. I also feel peace. Although there is no peace in the world.”
So why wouldn't you take a boat there while it is in the city? “I'll do it during the holidays,” he says. “Find my inner peace.” In the meantime, there is always Lotus Pose on the field.