SM
Liverpool vs. PSG: 14 hrs 32 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Pep Guardiola stands firm over stance for £100m-rated players

:Headline: Pep Guardiola stands firm over stance for £100m-rated players:
The Manchester City manager continues to play down the chances of a £100million-plus signing this summer.
Sports Mole

Pep Guardiola has hailed the abilities of Erling Haaland but defended Manchester City’s reluctance to spend over £100million on any player.

City continue to be linked with the highly-rated Borussia Dortmund striker despite Guardiola insisting his valuation puts him beyond the reach of the club.

City will get a close look at the Norwegian as they take on Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the first leg of which takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola rates Erling Haaland highly but has played down speculation linking the Norwegian with Manchester City (Clive Brunskill/PA)

Haaland, 20, has scored 39 goals for club and country this season including 10 in six Champions League appearances.

Manager Guardiola said: “The only thing I can say is that, with his age, he is an exceptional striker. The numbers speak for themselves and he’s a fantastic player – that’s all.

“To score that number of goals at his age is not easy to find. When that happens it’s because he can score with the right, the left, the counter-attacks, in the box.

“He’s a fantastic striker, everyone knows it. A blind guy would realise he’s a good striker. It’s not necessary to be a manager to realise it.”

Speculation linking City with Haaland has intensified over the past week following confirmation Sergio Aguero is to leave the club at the end of the season.

Haaland has scored 10 goals in six Champions League appearances this season (Federico Gambarini/POOL)

Haaland’s agent is reported to have already met with representatives of Barcelona and Real Madrid ahead of what could be a huge bidding war for one of the hottest properties in the game.

Haaland would command a fee well in excess of £100million and Guardiola said last week City would not pay such prices.

He has not ruled out that happening in the future but he feels the current policy makes sense.

He said: “The fact we have not spent, for one player, a lot of money, gives you advantage. Football is a team game, everyone makes his contribution. It’s not just one player, it’s for absolutely everyone.

“So far the club has decided not to spend close to £100million for a player, or more than £100million on a player. Maybe in the future it is going to happen if they decide it is necessary to improve the team for the next five, 10 years, for many reasons, but so far the club, the organisation, the CEO, the sporting director decided not to do it and that’s why they didn’t do it.”

“It remained in my head for weeks. It was painful. I cannot deny that.”
- Pep Guardiola

City are through to the last eight of the Champions League for a fourth successive year but have gone out at this stage in each of the past three seasons.

Guardiola admitted the loss to Lyon in last year’s one-off clash in Lisbon was particularly hard to take.

He said: “It remained in my head for weeks. It was summertime and it was painful. I cannot deny that.

“It was the last game of the season and we wanted to go through but we congratulated Lyon, accepted we didn’t do it well or didn’t deserve to go through.

“Yes it was painful but at the end what can we do? After a short time, 10 days, we wake up again and prepare for next season.

“We qualified for the Champions League and we are here again, to try again.”

body check tags ::

amp_article__441954 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-04-05 15:58:18:
html db last update - 2021-04-05 15:58:18 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Pep Guardiola

Click here for more stories about Manchester City

Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Pep Guardiola Erling Braut Haaland Sergio Aguero Football
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories.
 
Recommended Next on SM
Ratcliffe admits Ten Hag "error" as he delivers Amorim verdict
Yoro injury confirmed: Will Man United defender miss Real Sociedad clash?
Manchester City planning Josko Gvardiol move?

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool29217169274270
2Arsenal281510352242855
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest28156745331251
4Chelsea28147753361749
5Manchester CityMan City28145953381547
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2814594738947
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton28121064640646
8Aston Villa2912984145-445
9Bournemouth28128847341344
10Fulham2811984138342
11Crystal Palace2810993633339
12Brentford28115124844438
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs281041455411434
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd2897123440-634
15Everton2871293135-433
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2896133248-1633
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2865173857-1923
18Ipswich TownIpswich2838172658-3217
19Leicester CityLeicester2845192562-3717
20Southampton2823232068-489
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Slot provides Gakpo injury update before PSG fixture

1

SP

West Ham vs. Newcastle confirmed XIs: Is Isak fit to start for the Magpies?

2

WH

Ratcliffe slams "overpaid" and "not good enough" Man United players

3

RS

PSV vs. Arsenal: Head-to-head record and past meetings

4

PV

Ratcliffe admits Ten Hag "error" as he delivers Amorim verdict

5

RA

Reds and yellows: Five Liverpool players at risk of Champions League ban

6

RA

Preview: Tommy Paul vs. Daniil Medvedev - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

7

PT

Preview: Atletico vs. Real Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

8

PA

Preview: Arsenal vs. PSV - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PA

Real Madrid receive double fitness boost ahead of Atletico clash

10

RM


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .