Alan Shearer is adamant Erling Haaland will not see out his nine-and-a-half-year contract at Manchester City – claiming there's "no chance" he'll still be at the Etihad at 34.
The clinical striker stunned the footballing world last week after suddenly signing a nine-and-a-half-year contract extension that is set to keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the year 2034. Haaland, 24, will be 34 years of age by the time his contract runs out. But Newcastle United icon Shearer fully believes the Norway international will still depart the club before his deal expires.
Now in his third season at City, rumours of a future move to Real Madrid have been constant, dating back to his time at Borussia Dortmund. And despite his lengthy new contract and lack of a release clause until 2029 (which will be worth £250m), Shearer believes it remains a possibility.
Discussing Haaland's future on The Rest is Football podcast alongside co-hosts Gary Lineker and Micah Richards, the Premier League's top goalscorer in history – whose record Haaland is chasing down – declared his opinion on the striker's future. "By the way, there's absolutely no chance he's staying at Man City for nine-and-a-half years," the 54-year-old said. "Oh, seriously, do you think? I mean, do you think he will?"
Richards brought up Madrid as a possible destination but added that the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo mean the Spanish giants may not necessarily require Haaland's services.
Shearer then added: "But nine-and-a-half years, he's going to be 34 years of age. I don't see him being there, I'm not saying that he won't break the record. I'm pretty sure he will and he'll probably do it in five or six years. But he's not going to be there nine-and-a-half years.
"I think for both him and Man City, [it's] more financially beneficial [for Haaland], he gets more money – and for City, they get to protect their asset because if his contract's obviously not going to run out and whoever if they wanted to buy him in however many years, they'd have to pay a s*** load of money for him.
"So it it works for both of them, but I don't see him being there in nine-and-half years. In reality, (Mo) Salah could have the record or (Harry) Kane could have the record before he gets that record himself."
Haaland's new deal comes just two months after City boss Pep Guardiola inked his own two-year extension. Although the Spaniard admitted the club will find it difficult to sign forwards due to the striker's presence in the team.
"The bigger strikers will not come to be a replacement for Erling, so we have to find them young to accept the role," he told The Independent. "Or they’re different players – like Oscar [Bobb], [James] McAtee, Phil [Foden], and maybe without Erling we’ll play a different way, with a false nine, with alternatives, with more runners from outside, more runners for the channels inside. We will find solutions.
"We could not go to sign [Kylian] Mbappe, for example, as a top-class player because normally we play with just one striker. But of course, we have alternatives just in case Erling cannot play all the minutes. We have other options."
Despite Guardiola's claim, Eintracht Frankfurt star Omar Marmoush is inching closer to a £68million move to the Etihad. He's set to follow the January arrivals of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.