Pep Guardiola has revealed why he thinks Erling Haaland was ready to sign a new 10-year contract deal with Manchester City.

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• Haaland signs 10-year deal with Man City
• Tied to Etihad until 2034
• Guardiola opens up on decision

• Table of Contents

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Haaland has put all the rumours about his future to bed by signing a 10-year deal that will keep him at Etihad Stadium until 2034. When questioned at a press conference on Friday, Guardiola explained why Haaland signed such a long contract.

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  WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID

  Speaking to the media, Guardiola said: "Next season, if I’m still here, I will do 10 years [at Man City]. So he has to beat me. He comes from Norway; I think maybe the weather here [in Manchester] is better!

  "And he settled perfectly, and I think what happened is because he loves the club, the people he is around, he loves the Premier League, he loves to be here with his wife and now he’s a father. So I think he visualised that there is no better place that he could be right now in the next 10 years. And that’s why he and his family decided to do this step. In 10 years, wow, you never know what is going to happen. It’s a long, long time, and always in a short career you have to say, ‘OK stay, see what happens’, and he proved what he wanted, and trusts the club."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Haaland has scored 111 goals and provided 15 assists in 126 appearances for City. Guardiola said further of the striker: "If he continues with the numbers since he arrived, yeah [his records will never be beaten]. But it will depend on the team, him as well. It’s exceptional news for all of us, the club. When one player decides to sign this type of contract never done before it’s because he wants to show how desperately he wants to be here.

  "We have to create an environment where he is unstoppable, because there he is the best. He’s still so young, and I’m pretty sure he’ll mature by playing games, and games, and games, and it’s going to happen naturally. I don’t have the feeling that he’s a guy with a contract who says, ‘Now I have this I’m going to take a nap’. It’s not going to happen.

  "He loves to play, a huge competitor, but at the same time he as the ability to get away from good moments and bad moments immediately. His mindset is really good to forget what happened, and think about the next."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR HAALAND?

  The Norwegian has scored 79 Premier League goals so far and he is still about just under 200 goals away from beating Alan Shearer's record for most goals in the competition. However, if Haaland stays at City for the next 10 seasons, he could very well be in the race to beat the Newcastle legend's record.

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Category: News