Haaland on his record breaking 10-year Manchester City contract
16/01/2025 released 17/01/2025
CFGA studios, manchester, Uk
16/01/2025 released 17/01/2025
CFGA studios, manchester, Uk
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SportsTranscript
00:00Erling, congratulations. This is absolutely huge news for you, your family, Manchester City and all our fans across the world.
00:09Just tell us how you came to the decision to sign a new contract, but not just sign any contract, sign one for such a long period of time.
00:18Yeah, I'm super happy, I'm proud and it's difficult to put words on because it is a big moment and everything and who I am is, I am happy and that's the right words to use.
00:35So, super proud and happy and I look forward to staying here for a long time.
00:41Was it an easy decision for you to make?
00:43Yeah, in the end, speaking with the people I spoke with, in the end the hungriness and the support also I've been getting for the last couple of years from the board, from all the bosses and from Pep.
00:59In the end it was an easy decision and yeah, I'm delighted.
01:06You've achieved so much since you joined us back in the summer of 2022 and I want to discuss some of the records you've broken a little bit later, but before we do that I just want to kind of ask you to sum up your first two and a half years as a City player.
01:21Yeah, it's gone really quick. It felt like I signed just like a moment ago, you know, summer of 22. So, it's been going really quick and that's a good thing, that means you're enjoying it.
01:36And yeah, for two and a half years as a City player I've been winning loads of trophies, playing loads of good football, having so many great moments together with the whole club and with the fans and everyone.
01:51I still remember the rainy parade as maybe the biggest or best moment because it was so typical Manchester parade and everything around, you know. So, it's been amazing and it's been like a dream these two and a half years.
02:13And as I said, I'm really looking forward to what's next and for the future.
02:19You've achieved so much already and now you've committed for such a long period of time, for 10 years. I mean, you've got an opportunity to create a real legacy at this football club, haven't you?
02:29Yeah, and yeah, I'm going to stay for a long time. So, now I can fully focus on getting better because I'm going to stay for such a long time. So, full focus on performing, on getting better and to give all the fans what they want.
02:51We've had a lot of success in recent years, as you know. From your experience of being here, what is it that City do? What is it they offer players that allow them to perform so consistently?
03:02Yeah, first of all, a really welcoming club where you get really good taken care of. I think that's also really important when you speak with people and everything. You really feel at home here and that's the first amazing thing.
03:21Second of all, when I spoke to Pep, the best manager in the world, it's also a great thing to speak with him and to train and to play under him every single day. To meet him, to get his input on me and how to become a better footballer and everything.
03:40And to develop even more because he is the best and everything. And of course, you're here to win trophies, you're here to perform, you're here to be at your best and to deliver at your best. That's also what you have to do here because you come here, people expect you to win trophies and that's what you're here for.
04:06I saw something recently where Thierry Henry described Pep as the greatest, as you just have yourself. He said one of the main reasons he thinks that is that he improves players and makes them do things that the player didn't even think they could do. Just try and describe to us the impact Pep has had on your development and how much you feel you've improved in the last two and a half years.
04:27Yeah, I've improved a lot. It's so nice to work with him, not only because he's the best, but he's also the most hard-working person I've ever seen. People think it's only because he's this or that, but the amount of hours he puts down is also motivating and it's also inspiring as well to see.
04:56It's funny to work with him. It's hard, it's tough because he demands a lot, but that's what I want. I want people to demand a lot from me and to put pressure on me. So far, so good.
05:12In your first season here, you scored 52 goals in all competitions and we won the treble. At the time it was amazing, but looking back, now you've had 18 months to digest that. It was something really, really special, wasn't it?
05:27Yeah, especially for me and for everyone, but especially for me because it was the first season at the club. Everyone was speaking about the Champions League and everything of these things.
05:43Then to do this, the first season, you can't ask for more. You cannot ask for anything more. That will be forever the most special season for me ever in my career. I just know it now already.
06:00To be able to be a part of this is something really special and I'm super happy that we actually did it because it's easy to forget everything, but this is something I will never forget and I will remind everyone around me to never forget that moment because it actually is such a big moment.
06:21You set a new record that season for the amount of goals scored in a Premier League season. To know that you've contributed to history in this great league that's been going since 1992 and some of the players that you've beaten to achieve that, that must feel really, really good as well, particularly at your age.
06:40Yeah, of course. It was a record-breaking season as well as treble. It was also a record-breaking season, but yeah, it was a special season for me in terms of goals as well, especially in the Premier League.
06:56To be able to score most goals ever in one Premier League season is special and I'll do everything I can to try to get close to the record in the future. It's not going to be easy, but yeah, it was a special thing and I'm really happy that I did it.
07:18When you signed for us back in the summer of 2022, we didn't know what person we were getting, but it's clear since you arrived here that you're a very humble person, you work incredibly hard and you're really, really liked by all of your teammates. Do you sometimes find it quite funny the perception that people might have of you outside of this football club?
07:40Yeah, but this is how my life is. People judge you on whatever and things like that, but I don't really care about that because what matters is how you really are and how people who know you think about you. That's the most important.
08:02I've noticed as well that you love to celebrate goals with your teammates, whether you've scored it or whether it's another person who's scored it. We saw that Savino set you up against West Ham and you went straight over to him. As much as you're a striker and you want to score goals, the team is ultimately the most important thing to you, isn't it?
08:25Yeah, and it's a team sport, football. Without the team, you have no chance in football and that's also what you've been seeing from this club. You need every single player, you need the team to perform well. Just like when we won the treble, it was all about the team, every single game.
08:47That's the most important thing, the team, to perform well and to be in a good team spirit who wants to perform and wants to become better.
08:58This season's been a little bit more difficult for us than your first two. Our level hasn't quite been where it has been in the past, as Pep has said a few times recently, but how confident are you that we can return to the standards that we've set?
09:11Yeah, I'm really confident that we can turn things around and to get this feeling of hunger inside every one of us. Don't look at things easy and everything. Don't take things for granted, that's an important thing and I'll do everything to change things around.
09:33Do you think this run also has highlighted just how extraordinary the stuff we've been doing in the recent seasons has actually been?
09:39Yeah, it's kind of a reality check how difficult it is to just win a game because look how good teams are and then you also look at City winning four in a row, how extraordinary that was and to win the treble as well is ridiculous.
10:00So yeah, look forward, stay positive and attack what's ahead.
10:08You're one of the most recognised footballers in the world but you always seem to play with a real smile on your face. How do you manage to cope with the constant pressure and the attention and the scrutiny that comes with being early in Harland?
10:22Yeah, my life has changed a lot in the last years, that's just how it is. I'm enjoying it, I try to smile as much as possible, I try to enjoy as much as possible. That's in the end the most important thing, what you want to do is to smile and to have a good time and to enjoy your life, that's what you need to do. So yeah, in the end it's about smiling.
10:45Well we've enjoyed watching you, you've certainly made us smile a lot over the last few years early so congratulations on the new contract, you deserve it and I'm sure every City fan is looking forward to watching you score more goals.