Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has said he has “no excuses” as part of a message marking the two-time Premier League top scorer’s birthday on the club’s 2024 tour of America.
Team-mates Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker as well as Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, who was Haaland at former club Borussia Dortmund, were among the top players to congratulate the Norway international.
“Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone,” Haaland replied. “Twenty-four years means that I no longer have talent, let’s start working. There are no excuses.”
Man City US tour
Haaland and City’s pre-season tour begins against Scottish giants Celtic in North Carolina on Wednesday (12:30am BST).
The reigning Premier League champions then face Milan in New York on Saturday (11pm BST), Barcelona in Orlando on July 31 (midnight BST) and Chelsea in Ohio on August 3 (10.30pm BST).
Haaland figures, transfer rumours
In 2023/24, Haaland finished with 27 goals in the top flight – nine short of his tally in his first campaign, failing to score in City’s last four games.
One of these was their FA Cup final defeat against Manchester United, where Haaland, who has also missed nine games in all competitions through injury, had a quiet game.
He had been linked with a move to Real Madrid in mid-2023/24 but marked his third season with Pep Guardiola’s side earlier this week by writing: “Year three – let’s get to it.”
Erling Haaland’s salary
The well-paid Haaland earns a basic salary of £375,000 a week or £19.5 million a year, according to Capology.
With bonuses, those figures are said to rise to £850,000 a week or £44.2m a year as part of a contract until 2027.
City begin their season against United in the Community Shield on August 10 and visit Chelsea eight days later in their Premier League opener.
They finished two points clear of Arsenal last season, losing three of their 38 league games and reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where they were knocked out on penalties by Madrid.
Haaland did not join most of his City squad for Euro 2024 because Norway failed to reach the final from a difficult qualifying group.
One-goal home defeats to Spain and Scotland, both finalists, saw Norway miss out on a place in Germany and ensured Haaland will have more time off than some of Europe’s best players this summer.
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