Erling Haaland's exclusive interview Part II from the TIME have been released. The Norwagian striker talks about the comment about him from the outside world and his choice to extend contract with Manchester City.
Relevant Link: Interview Part I
Bitter supporters of rival Manchester United—still the second most valuable soccer club in the world, according to Forbes—chalk up Man City’s success to economics. According to many Man U fans, ever since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, bought City in 2008, his oil wealth has purchased players and championships. Meanwhile Man U’s owners, the Glazer family of the U.S., have burdened the club with debts and losing: Man U hasn’t won the Premiership in a dozen years. And, these fans argue, Haaland’s overrated. “He’s a big galoot,” says United supporter Christine Maun, 73, while watching a midweek Man U game in a Manchester pub in March. “If he wasn’t playing for City, he’d never score what he scores. He’s not a classy player. Just stands there.”
That’s a common knock on Haaland: he’s a so-called tap-in merchant, a player who converts easy goals while his teammates do the dribbling and passing. Prompted to respond to that label, Haaland laughs. “What’s the most difficult thing in football?” Haaland asks, rhetorically. “If you’re a tap-in merchant, that means you’re scoring a lot of goals, no? There you kind of have the answer. I like it if people call me a tap-in merchant. I love it. That means you’re doing something right. That a lot of other people can’t.”
Plus, it takes skill and athleticism to position yourself to convert those chances. “His football IQ is off the charts,” says former Premier League midfielder Robbie Earle, now an analyst for NBC Sports. “He has to think ahead. He’s seeing pictures before most other players see them on the pitch. It’s almost like a mathematician who can work out the algorithm and the conundrum quicker than anybody else.”
It has all added up to Haaland’s signing a mammoth 9½-year contract in January. Haaland is making a commitment to Man City even though the club has been charged with breaches of financial regulations, from the 2009–2010 to 2017–2018 seasons, that could result in fines, the stripping of championships, or even expulsion from the Premier League. Man City has denied the charges and is awaiting a verdict by an independent commission. “I spoke with the bosses, and in the end, I believe them,” says Haaland. “It’s such a tricky situation for me to even sit there and speak about, because I wasn’t really involved in it. So I think the club knows what they’re doing. They will sort it out.”
The contract is the longest in Premier League history. “This feels really normal for me to do,” says Haaland about the signing. “They have so much trust in me. Got the good feeling inside my body.”
Haaland shouldn’t be strolling along the Atlantic Ocean right now. Not because his fair skin is so exposed to the fiery Florida sun (though there’s that). No, he should be on vacation, recuperating from the grind of this past season—where he missed six weeks with an ankle injury—and resting his body for the next one, which could see Haaland playing upwards of 70 games between the Premier League, cup competitions, World Cup qualifying, and the World Cup, which kicks off next June 11 in Mexico City. But the soccer calendar, always eager to cash in on the popularity of players like Haaland, called for a more expansive Club World Cup this offseason. “Every footballer is waiting the whole year for holidays,” says Haaland, as a breeze drifts in off the ocean. “But as well, the people that have holidays now, they would love to be here.”
He did depart the U.S. earlier than expected: on June 30, Saudi club Al Hilal upset Manchester City 4-3 in the Round of 16 (Haaland scored a second-half equalizer in that game, in addition to two other goals in earlier ones). It’s been that sort of year for Man City. Haaland still finished second in goals per match in the Premier League, behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. But rocky moments stood out.
In September, a camera caught Haaland telling Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to “stay humble” after Man City scored late to draw with the Gunners, 2-2. At one point in the match, he also shouted, “Who the f-ck are you?” at Arsenal rookie Myles Lewis-Skelly. This all caused a row. So during the rematch in London in February, Arsenal fans could be heard singing “stay humble” during Arsenal’s 5-1 annihilation of the road team. They added a derogatory word. When Lewis-Skelly scored a goal in the second half, he mimicked Haaland’s lotus celebration.
Haaland has no “stay humble” regrets. “I think it’s an important phrase, which a lot of people should use, including myself,” he says. “It’s one of the most important things, as individuals, to do.” He takes the chants in stride. “They won the game 5-1,” says Haaland. “So yeah, they got me.” And Lewis-Skelly’s not the first person to send up Haaland’s ritual: Brazilian superstar Neymar did the same thing after scoring for Paris Saint-Germain against Dortmund in a 2020 Champions League game. “If he wanted to use that moment to mock me, that’s fair enough for him,” says Haaland. “Whatever he wants to do, he can do.”
In May, Manchester City still had an opportunity to finish off a disappointing campaign with a trophy, in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. But Crystal Palace won 1-0. Soccer pundits, including English legend Wayne Rooney, knocked Haaland for declining to take a penalty shot before the half. Instead, Haaland gave the ball to Marmoush, who joined Man City from Eintracht Frankfurt, of the Bundesliga, in January. The Crystal Palace keeper, Dean Henderson, stopped Marmoush’s attempt. “Erling Haaland is a world-class forward, but when we’re talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no way they are giving that ball away,” Rooney told BBC One.
Haaland doesn’t dispute Rooney’s comments. “I shouldn’t have given it to a new player,” he says. “So all the responsibility is on me. I put him in this situation. I had a good feeling on him. But I should have taken it myself.”
Man City manager Pep Guardiola, one of the world’s most respected football minds having won a dozen league titles in Spain, Germany, and England over 16 seasons, has named Haaland to a four-person leadership council for the team next season. He’s the youngest member of the group by more than three years. “I’m quite calm in my head,” Haaland says. “That’s a good thing to bring to others as well, even when the situation can be a bit wild.” He’s already put last season behind him. “I almost forgot it until you started speaking about it,” says Haaland. “I cannot keep on thinking about last season. That last season was not good enough, this or that. That’s the best part of football. There’s always something new that’s coming. You have to think about what is coming next and live in the present moment.”
Norway, meanwhile, has won all four of its World Cup qualifying matches so far. I ask Haaland if he thinks the U.S., which as one of the host countries automatically qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, can win it. Haaland turns the tables, asking me who has a better chance to win, the U.S. or Norway. “You don’t have to answer it,” he says. “But Norway will never win the World Cup.” The nation last appeared in the event in 1998. “If we would qualify for the World Cup, it would be like another big nation winning it,” Haaland says. “It would be the biggest party ever. Scenes in Oslo would be incredible.”
He’s a realist. And a bit of a diplomat. “I don’t want to be that guy that says the USA is never going to win the World Cup, then they actually win it,” says Haaland, through a hint of laughter. “So there’s a 1% chance they’re going to do it. Norway has a 0.5.”
Haaland’s growing fond of the U.S. The previous day, during the second half of Man City’s 2-0 victory over Moroccan side Wydad AC in Philadelphia, his entrance onto the pitch provided the game’s loudest moment. “I didn’t know I was famous in the U.S.,” says Haaland. “Everyone knows who I am.” He’s watched Yellowstone and wouldn’t mind exploring Montana. “Get what is the guy, Costner, to drive me around,” he says, laughing. While in the passenger seat of a rental car later in the day—he asks the driver to pull over until he hooks up his Bluetooth to play thump-thump dance music—Haaland spots one of the oversize American pickup trucks that he admires. “Look at that,” he says. “That’s a f-cking car. I’m going to go out and ask for a photo with it.” He was less impressed with a Cybertruck rumbling around South Florida. “It’s so weird,” he says. All the stoplights reminded him that Bryne has none.
He won’t even rule out a move to Major League Soccer in the U.S., à la Messi and Beckham, after his Man City deal is done. “You never know what the future is going to bring,” says Haaland. “What Messi is doing now is incredible. Also what Beckham did, it’s amazing.”
As our beach time concludes, I ask Haaland what crosses his mind as he looks out at the ocean. “Freedom,” he says. “If you drive with a boat straight out, you’re all alone. I feel that is freedom. I also feel peace. Even though there’s not peace in the world.”
So why not take a boat out there while he’s in town? “I will do it on the holidays,” he says. “Find my inner peace.” In the meantime, there’s always lotus pose on the pitch.