Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Simon Bajkowski

Pep Guardiola delays Erling Haaland response to remind Man City players

Anyone who saw Pep Guardiola's press conference ahead of the Wolves game witnessed a man excited about the striker set to arrive in Manchester at the end of the season. The Manchester City manager immediately confirmed that a deal for Erling Haaland was close as he said that both his club and Borussia Dortmund had told him he could not yet speak about it despite his wishes.

"I would love to talk about this but they told me not to say anything until after the legal actions ... it's not because I don't want to, but I can't." Guardiola added, with a smile, that there would be plenty of time to talk about the No.9 that is set to go down as one of the biggest signings in City's history.

Except that time did not come at Wolves. The manager was asked a number of questions about Haaland on Wednesday night - a day after an agreement in principle was announced - and after sidestepping as much as he could and trying to name all of the West Ham team his brief answers on the player came with a caveat.

Also read: Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho add to Man City injury troubles

"I respond because I have to do it and I'm polite but it is next season but we work a lot on this season, and we spoke about that," he said at Molineux. "It's not done. There is still a lot of work to do."

Whether the players will tune in for the press conference or not, it is a message that Guardiola will repeat to them again and again in private. For all the excitement around the club at pulling off the Haaland deal - and doing it so soon that they have been able to announce it before the season is over - the coach will not let that news jeopardise their final push for the Premier League title.

City are in a terrific position, needing just four points mathematically and three points realistically from their final two games to pip Liverpool and retain the trophy. But Guardiola has not won as much as he has by leaving things to chance and a manager that has stressed the importance of goal difference in recent weeks that has effectively given the Blues an advantage of an extra point is not about to allow thinking about next season to creep in now.

His players likely won't need the reminder, given the response to their Champions League heartbreak. City's manager insisted he had not been surprised by the nature of their reaction - scoring ten goals in two games - and this team know how to win a title.

While it is still up for grabs though, Haaland can wait a little while longer.

Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.