LONDON: Erling Haaland has pledged his loyalty to Manchester City – whatever may happen – by signing a new nine-and-a-half-year contract to keep him with Premier League champions until 2034.

The new deal is a £100,000-per-week increase on Haaland’s previous contract, making him the club’s highest earner. The contract does not contain a release clause.

The Norwegian’s previous contract had been due to expire in the summer of 2027 but one of football’s longest-ever deals will see him turn 34 by the time it ends. The 24-year-old had been linked with a move to Real Madrid, having scored 111 goals in 126 games since joining City in June 2022 from Borussia Dortmund.

City, sixth in the Premier League, are rebuilding this month with defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis from Lens and Palmeiras respectively close to signing, while a deal has been agreed for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush.

Haaland’s new contract comes as City await the outcome of their disciplinary case brought by the Premier League in which they denied the more than 100 charges levelled against them.

Haaland said: “I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club.

“Manchester City is a special club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.

“I also want to thank [manager] Pep [Guardiola], his coaching staff, my team-mates and everyone at the club as they have all helped me so much in the past couple of years. They have made this such a special place to be and now I am City no matter what.

“I want to keep developing, keep working to get better and look to do my best to try and help us achieve more success going forward.”

Haaland also spoke about working with Guardiola, who he described as “the most hard-working person I’ve ever seen”.

“It’s a great thing to speak with him, and to train and to play under him every single day; to get his input on me and how to become a better footballer and to develop even more, because he is the best.

“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. The amount of hours he puts down is motivating and it’s also inspiring.

“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.”

Haaland scored 10 goals in the first five Premier League games of this season, including back-to-back hat-tricks, but has bagged only six more in the 16 league matches since. He sits second behind Mo Salah, who has 18 goals, in the top-scorers chart.

Haaland has won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, an FA Cup and a Super Cup in his two-and-a-half seasons with Manchester City.

City signed Haaland on a five-year contract for £51m by paying his release clause in a deal that was expected to rise to £85.5m in total when agent fees, signing bonus and other costs were taken into account.

He scored 86 goals in 89 matches for Dortmund after joining from RB Salzburg in January 2020.

Pep Guardiola has said he was surprised at the Haaland news.

Guardiola said at a press conference: “I said, ‘Can you repeat?’ And he said to me (10 years). I said, ‘Sure?’ and he said, ‘Yes’. So, good news. That means a lot.

“It’s proof of confidence and trust for the club, it’s the trust for the club to Erling, because you never know what can happen in the next years.

“But the club knows perfectly how professional he is and his commitment in every single game and every single day to show his talent.

“Of course for him, in 10 years, you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a long, long time and always in the short careers, you have to say, ‘OK, we’ll see what happens’.

“He proved what he wanted and the trust was with the club.”

Haaland’s Premier League goal total is 24 higher than anyone else’s in the same time period, with Mohamed Salah, on 55, the only other player to have even reached a half-century. Haaland is in a league of his own when it comes to the art of putting the ball in the net.

After only two and a half seasons, he is close to cracking the top 50 in the Premier League scoring charts. Carry on at his current rate and he will be level with Fernando Torres (85) before the end of next month. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s total (95) will be matched by May.

The difference, of course, is that those two players, and indeed all of those above him, needed far longer to reach those kinds of numbers. Haaland has set new standards in the competition, averaging an unprecedented 0.99 goals per 90 minutes since his debut.

A target now in prospect is Alan Shearer’s total of 260 goals in 441 games.

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