Pep Guardiola responds to links with Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland
By Tom Gott
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confessed he is a huge fan of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, who has been heavily linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer.
With Sergio Aguero's contract coming to an end at the end of the season, City are keen to splash out on a new striker, with Haaland and Inter's Romelu Lukaku both touted as high-profile targets for Guardiola.
Guardiola will get a chance to get up close and personal (but, you know, while socially distanced) with Haaland in the last eight of the Champions League, where his City side will duel it out with Dortmund for a spot in the semi-finals. And he confessed he's looking forward to getting a better look at the 20-year-old.
"The numbers speak for themselves," Guardiola said of Haaland's goalscoring record (via Manchester Evening News). "He is one of the best strikers in the world right now at his age.
"I haven't had much time but I've seen the highlights, and his numbers in the league and the Champions League are impressive. I know the quality of this player, everyone does. In two weeks, I can answer better because I haven't seen much of him."
Guardiola was then asked whether wants to bring Haaland to the Etihad, but as is the case with these questions, he quickly distanced himself from the whole thing.
"He's a player from Dortmund," Guardiola said. "I don't like when people talk about our players. You understand I cannot answer this question."
The City boss admitted he is well aware of the threat Haaland will pose his team, but he stressed that Dortmund are far more than a one-trick pony, admitting City will have to be at their best to come out on top.
"Raphael Guerreiro, Axel Witsel have experience. The quality of Jadon Sancho and Giovanni Reyna. There are many good players," Guardiola continued. "They decide to invest in good, young players, paying good wages and good salaries for agents. They have a lot of quality.
"They went through against Sevilla, who are one of the strongest knockout teams ever, winning three Europa Leagues in a row and then another one. Sevilla are always so strong and they beat them. Dortmund is tough, but so are Porto, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, all of them.
"If we have two good games, we'll deserve to go through. If Dortmund is able to have two good games, they will go through. It's as easy as that. We now have two weeks to analyse and see a few games, how they are, how they do things and how their manages likes to work."