London (dpa)
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola denied reports that there was a penalty clause in Erling Haaland’s contract, after he watched the attacking star score two new goals for the team in the match that Manchester City won over Copenhagen 5-0 in the Champions League.
And the British news agency “BA Media” reported that Guardiola replaced Haaland between the halves of the Copenhagen match, after he scored his 18 and 19 goals for Manchester City this season.
And there were reports in Spain that there is a penalty clause in the 22-year-old’s contract that gives Real Madrid the right to sign him in 2024, but Guardiola said that this is not true.
Guardiola said: “It is not true. He has no penalty clause that Real Madrid or any club can sign, rumors and people are talking, and we can’t control this. I always worry about the things we can control.”
He stressed, “The important thing is that he has adapted very well, we have a feeling that he is happy here. We will try to make him and all who would like to stay happy, in the future, no one knows, but he is happy, he settled perfectly, he is very loved and that is the most important thing.”
Guardiola said that the decision to replace Haaland with Cole Palmer between the two halves was not planned before, but after Manchester City secured the match to a large extent with a 3-0 lead five minutes before the end of the first half, Guardiola took advantage of the opportunity to give him a rest before facing Southampton next Sunday. in the English Premier League.
“He played a lot of minutes, of course Cole Palmer is a great player and I look forward to seeing him play,” Guardiola said.
And he added: “If the result was close, Haaland would still be on the field, but after that it is important to rest him and think about the Southampton game, a team we could not beat last season.”
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