Erling Haaland responds to Man City’s absence from Premier League title race

Erling Haaland has said it’s impossible for Manchester City to win the Premier League every season, and that the players must now focus on securing qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Having won six of the last seven Premier League titles on offer, City were overwhelming favourites heading into the 2024/25 campaign to pick up a record-extending fifth successive crown.

But some uncharacteristically flawed displays, with countless errors and a tendency to buckle under pressure, has seen City drop not just out of the Premier League title picture but also out of the top four as things stand.

Liverpool are staggering 21 points clear ahead of Pep Guardiola’s charges, who are battling Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Aston Villa and potentially even Bournemouth for a spot in next season’s Champions League.

Haaland, speaking while away on international duty with Norway, has said that’s just how things go sometimes, with City now needing to effectively control the controllables.

“That’s how it is sometimes,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s been different when you’ve won the Premier League both years and not been in the title race. But you can’t win every year.

“Now it’s about securing a Champions League place, and do something you can do something about: Win the FA Cup.”

City still have the small matter of 115 charges of alleged financial breaches looming over their head, but the threat of expulsion from the Premier League didn’t deter Haaland from signing an extraordinary new nine-and-a-half-year contract in January, tying him to the Etihad Stadium until 2034.

And he unsurprisingly revealed that he’s not concerned about City receiving a huge punishment, having spoken to the club to get guarantees before putting pen to paper.

“I don’t do that [worry about the charges], obviously, when I sign a 9½-year contract,” he said. “I’ve said 300 times why I signed the contract. I talked to the club, got a good feeling and agreed to it in the end. That’s why.”