Manchester City stance on star forward revealed amid Real Madrid interest | OneFootball

Real Madrid are interested in bolstering their frontline with the signing of Erling Haaland from Manchester City next summer, as per a new report.

Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and signed a sensational 10-year contract at the Etihad Stadium last fall, which is set to keep the 25-year-old striker in sky blue till the end of the 2033-34 season.

The Norway international has won two Premier League titles as well the UEFA Champions, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and FA Cup in his first three seasons at the Etihad Stadium, having supported Manchester City as a child.

City tied their most important player – who is understood to be earning £400,000-per-week – to an incredible 10-year deal last season, with Haaland completely bought into the club’s long-term project and aspirations after making a blistering start to life in the Premier League.

Manchester City are undergoing a period of transition after several notable departures of senior stars from their first-team squad in the summer, with all of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson and Ilkay Gundogan leaving permanently.

Haaland has also seen Jack Grealish, his best friend in football, join Everton on a season-long loan – which little hopes of a reunion next summer. Manuel Akanji, Haaland’s former teammate at Dortmund, has also moved to Inter Milan on loan for the 2025-26 season.

After years of dominating English football and winning four consecutive Premier League title between 2021-24, Manchester City endured their most difficult season under Pep Guardiola last term; finishing third in the league, exiting the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.

However, Haaland scored 34 goals in all competitions for City last term and in a season where Manchester City lacked much of the creativity that has been the fulcrum of their attacking play over the years, the Scandinavian forward still managed to rack up the goods to a level that shows how indispensable he has become to Guardiola and his side.

Real Madrid have held a long-standing interest in Haaland and made a concrete effort to sign the Norwegian from Dortmund in the summer of 2022, with the forward choosing to move to Manchester City instead.

As per Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, the La Liga giants remain interested in adding Haaland to their star-studded attacking ranks in the coming seasons as Manchester City push the reset button and start afresh with a new-look squad.

“You wouldn’t have thought so, but there’s always been links with Real Madrid and Haaland. He’s the best striker in the Premier League, his goalscoring record tells you that, and Guardiola does not want to lose him in the middle of this rebuild at Man City,” O’Rourke wrote.

“They (Manchester City) have lost some big players already – the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and others – and they will be desperate to keep Haaland as he aims to get this team back to where they were a couple of seasons ago, winning everything on offer.

“It’s no surprise Real Madrid are interested in him, they would love the opportunity to sign Haaland and pair him with Kylian Mbappe. But Man City aren’t going to be entertaining any offers for him and will be confident they can keep hold of the Norwegian.”