Erling Haaland can still improve after signing a new Manchester City contract, says manager Pep Guardiola.
Haaland has won the Premier League’s golden boot in each of his two full seasons with City so far and signed a deal to keep him at the club until 2034 on Friday morning.
Haaland will be 34 that summer and will feel confident of chasing down Alan Shearer’s record 260 Premier League goals if he can do it.
Guardiola said: “If he continues with the numbers since he arrived, then yes (that is possible). It will depend on the team and him, but it is excellent news for the club.
“He loves the club and the people around him. He loves the Premier League and lives here with his family. He must feel like there is no better place to be in the next 10 years.
PEP 💬 After (Erling Haaland signed his contract) we congratulated each other. It makes me a better manager, better staff that’s for sure. It helps me. pic.twitter.com/C4NyMzwG7m
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 17, 2025
“Of course it can be improved. We all can. The club and team must create an environment and moments that can be unstoppable. That’s when he’s at his best.
“More than anything else it has to do with understanding the game, during the game and the decisions he has to make.
“He’s still young and with the maturity to play games and games it will happen naturally.”
City have had a disappointing season by their own lofty standards and find themselves in sixth place in the Premier League this weekend.
Haaland has scored 21 goals in all competitions but has just seven in his last 16 games – slow by his normal rate.
Shearer himself believes it is only a matter of time before Haaland – who has 79 Premier League goals to date – catches up to him.
“If he stays that long, no doubt he will break that record,” Shearer said. “It could be someone else’s by then – like Harry Kane or Mo Salah.
“But there’s no question if, and a big if, because such a long contract takes him to 34, he should have a Premier League goalscoring record.
“It’s good news for the Premier League because we want all the best players in our league, not so good for the defenders who will be chasing his tail for many years.”
2025-01-17 16:04:00
