Erling Haaland: Pep Guardiola unfazed by Manchester City star future rumours - 'We cannot control what people say'

Pep Guardiola has shrugged off claims that Erling Haaland is unhappy at Manchester City.

Haaland returned from a couple of months on the sidelines as a late substitute in City's win over Burnley earlier in the week, and Guardiola said the Norway international was now fit enough to press for a start.

But during his press conference looking forward to the game with Brentford in the Premier League on Monday, the Spanish coach had to field questions about his star forward’s future.

Reports in Spain claimed Haaland was unhappy in the north west and craved a move to Real Madrid.

Guardiola appeared untroubled by the reports, saying he does not get the feeling that the former Borussia Dortmund striker is unhappy.

“I don’t know, you have to ask the media from Madrid,” Guardiola said when asked if the report was published to unsettle Haaland. “Maybe they have more info than we have.

“We don’t have that feeling that he’s unhappy. He was [unhappy] because he could not play for two months because he was injured but maybe the media from Spain, and especially Madrid, have more information than us.

“We cannot say he didn’t adapt quickly [on joining in summer 2022] and he was not fine since he arrived. But we cannot control what people say.

“What’s important is that he’s happy. And when he’s unhappy, he will make his decision.”

With Haaland back in contention, Guardiola made it clear that his team will provide chances for their leading marksman.

“The last game against Burnley, every transition, every pass all the players looked at him,’ Guardiola said. “I know how important he is for us.

“We try to keep our strikers happy and especially him. It will depend on how we play. If we are comfortable and good he will get a lot of balls and after that he will do the rest.”

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