Erling Haaland sends clear message amid Real Madrid links after Pep Guardiola Man City renewal

Erling Haaland says he is “super happy” to be playing under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, labelling him as the best manager in the world.

The 53-year-old inked a two-year contract extension this week in what is a huge boost for the club. His previous deal was set to expire next summer and there was ambiguity over his future plans and what impact a potential exit could have on the squad.

However, Guardiola has underlined his commitment to the club, confirming that Man City’s legal battle with the Premier League had no bearing on his decision. Rodri has since outlined that the manager’s contract agreement is an “important incentive” to stay at the Blues amid links with Real Madrid.

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The Spanish champions have also continually been linked with Haaland since his arrival in Manchester, but the player himself believes he is working under possibly the greatest coach of all time at Man City.

“He's the best manager in the world and I think we all know that. And he's probably the best that ever existed on the earth,” he told Sky Sports.

“I expected loads of things from him and he's been delivering up to this every single second. I'm super happy and you can also see that when I play as well.”

Haaland says Guardiola has been “calm” amidst Man City’s current four-game losing streak, the longest such run since the boss took charge of the club. The Blues are out of the League Cup, have won just two of their four Champions League games and are five points off Premier League leader Liverpool.

But Haaland says he has “full trust” that Guardiola will find solutions to problems and suggests that the current situation has been overblown, despite recent results bruising the team.

“Yeah, we lost four in a row. It's not normal in a club like this. It hurts, it clearly does,” he added. “The motivation is bigger than ever to go on Saturday and to win the game and to get on the run again.

“I think [international break] was good for everyone to maybe go to their countries and national teams and to restart a little bit. We lost four in a row but how bad is it? It's not that bad. It's not like we got relegated. We're still second place, we've still got plenty of games left.”

Speaking of Guardiola, Haaland grinned: “When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust. And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end.

“Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.”

Man City will try to end their poor run with a win at home over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the team that defeated them in the League Cup last month to begin the current winless streak.

Haaland recounted Man City’s 4-2 win over Spurs in January 2023 as an example of how the Blues can be unstoppable when they click into gear once prompted by the manager. He explained: “It was a tough game, 2-0 at half-time. And I remember the speech at half-time.

“Pep spoke about how many times we have turned around these results, especially at home, plenty of times. So why shouldn't we do it now? And we went out there and we just, with full force, attacked the game. And in the end, we won 4-2.

“It's difficult to stop us. It's kind of just the whole club just towards one goal and everything. And that's what we've been doing - ever since I came here, even before I came here, the club has been doing exactly that.

“That's the reason why they've been winning six Premier Leagues in the last seven years with Pep and the whole staff, with the whole club just aiming towards one goal and just pushing towards that.”

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Manchester City wrapped up the 2023/24 season with a fourth successive Premier League title, but they missed out on another Treble with defeat in the FA Cup final and Champions League quarter-finals. It's now time for Pep Guardiola and co to turn their attention to the transfer window.

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