Man City hero delivers brutal Haaland Real Madrid transfer warning

Manchester City have been given a transfer warning over Erling Haaland from their former captain Richard Dunne.

Reports in Spain have recently claimed that Haaland is unhappy with life at Man City and that the striker believes if he is going to win the Ballon d’Or one day then he is going to have to play for a bigger, more traditional club than City.

While the focus at Santiago Bernabeu this summer will be on bringing in Kylian Mbappe, Haaland has always been tipped as a Madrid player of the future.

The Norway hitman has a release clause in his contract which becomes active in the summer of 2024, with the clause reported to be worth between £100 million and £150m.

He is under contract until 2027, with City so far unsuccessful in convincing their chief goalscorer to renew terms. That means the treble winners are vulnerable to bids on the 23-year-old each summer when, it has been reported, his release clause lowers.

Haaland will seek new challenges

Dunne, who captained the club from 2006 to 2009, has delivered some harsh news for his former employers, believing that having achieved everything he can in City colours, the time will soon come for Haaland to seek new challenges.

“Erling Haaland will probably want to play for Real Madrid at some time in his career,” Dunne told William Hill.

“I think a lot of players would. He's won the treble at Man City and already achieved everything he can, so I believe that he'll probably stay another two seasons and then we might see him move on.”

Figures at City have not taken kindly to the Madrid-based reports that Haaland is unsettled at the Etihad. And Dunne thinks that the evidence points to the player enjoying his football, having scored twice on Saturday during the 2-0 win against Everton in the Premier League.

“From what I gather, he's enjoying his time at Man City,” Dunne said. “I know the reports suggest differently, but he is winning games every week, he's scoring goals, winning trophies, and he's got the possibility with that group of players to win the treble again – whether it be this season or next season.

“I don't see it being an instant worry for the club or for the fans at the moment, but certainly, over the next two or three years, I do think that his wishes would probably be to move on from the club.”

Dunne also suggested that City fans would prefer to lose Haaland than manager Pep Guardiola, if it came down to it. Guardiola has been a transformative figure in English football history since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2016, delivering a treble for City last term.

The Spaniard is out of contract in 2025 and Dunne believes not many clubs could tempt away from his position of power at the Etihad.

“There's always a fear of Pep Guardiola leaving Man City,” Dunne said. “If you have a choice of losing Erling Haaland or Pep, you would probably prefer that Haaland left, because Pep is the one who runs the whole show.

“He's the one that's given us the football that we've seen over the last few years, so to replace him is going to be the biggest task of all.

‌“I think he works with a real good backroom and a good hierarchy of friends and colleagues.

“He's already created history and legacy at the club and the fans would give him a contract for life if he wanted one. I don't think there are any concerns that he's going before his contract ends in 2025, but afterwards, who knows?

“There's not many clubs that could probably attract him away from the job that he's doing at City.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola came out fighting after the reports linking Haaland with a move away first materialised. The ex-Borussia Dortmund forward has recently returned to action following a foot injury, scoring twice against the Toffees this weekend.

“I don’t know, you have to ask the media from Madrid,” Pep told the press when quizzed over whether Madrid media are trying to unsettle Haaland by publishing reports.

“Maybe they have more info than we have. We don’t have that feeling that he’s unhappy. He was [unhappy] because he could not play for two months because he was injured but maybe the media from Spain, and especially Madrid, have more information than us.

“We cannot say he didn’t adapt quickly and he was not fine since he arrived. But we cannot control what people say. What’s important is that he’s happy. And when he’s unhappy, he will make his decision.”