Erling Haaland is ‘in love with Spain’ as Real Madrid eye Man City raid; Guardiola ‘aware’ of striker’s obsession

Manchester City manager is reportedly ‘aware’ that Erling Haaland is tempted by the prospect of joining Real Madrid at the end of the season. 

The 23-year-old has arguably been the Cityzen’s most important player since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022.

Haaland netted an incredible 52 goals in 53 matches last season as Man City went on to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League to complete a historic Treble.

The Norweigan international has carried that form into this season, too, scoring 19 goals in 22 matches before picking up an injury in early December that he has only just recovered from.

Man City fought off competition from top European clubs including Real Madrid to sign Haaland in 2022.

The Spanish giants are still big admirers of the centre-forward and amid rumours that he has a release clause of just €100m (approx. £85m) in his contract, they could make a move for him in the summer.

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Real Madrid remain interested in signing Haaland

Speaking about rumours of a release clause and Haaland being unhappy at Man City, Guardiola said recently: “We don’t have the feeling that Erling is unhappy here.

“Maybe the press in Spain, especially in Madrid, has more information than we do…”

In response to Guardiola’s comments, Spanish outlet Bernabeu Digital claims that Madrid are indeed considering a move for Haaland, although their priority is Kylian Mbappe.

The report writes that Haaland is not ‘entirely comfortable’ in Manchester and that Guardiola is ‘aware that Haaland is constantly talking about going to Real Madrid’.

The striker is allegedly ‘in love with Spain’ but Guardiola ‘continues to think’ his exit ‘is more of a theory than a palpable reality’.

The Man City boss is focused on guiding his team to a fourth-consecutive Premier League title but at the time of writing, they have a five-point gap to close on Liverpool.

The PL champions are set to face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Monday.

If they are to lift the title again this term, you would think that Haaland will have to keep up his goalscoring form.

It will be interesting to see if he starts and scores again against the Bees.

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