Manchester City forward Erling Haaland dropped a major hint at a potential future move to Real Madrid by refusing to rule it out as the Cityzens prepare to take on FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League.
Madrid are anticipated to secure the signing of France striker Kylian Mbappé on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, although they have long been admirers of Haaland.
City managed to beat the Madrid giants to acquire the Norwegian goal scorer from Borussia Dortmund for £51 million in June 2022, but Real's interest has persisted.
When questioned about the links with Real and whether he felt satisfied with everything he needed at City to stay with the club for the long term ahead of their Champions League clash against Copenhagen, Haaland expressed contentment with his situation at the Manchester club.
“I’m really happy, especially with the people that I’m surrounded with – the manager [Pep Guardiola], the directors, the board, they are a group of amazing people and I’m really happy, I have to say.
“If I say this now it’s probably going to be a massive headline… tomorrow you never know what the future brings, but I’m happy. You can write this but you also have to write everything I said before. I’m happy.”
Having scored his 28th goal of the campaign in City's 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday, Haaland also brushed aside recent reports from Madrid suggesting he did not enjoy living in Manchester.
“Yeah I enjoy life, I enjoy life with my closest ones and I enjoy it [Manchester]. I don’t know what else to say.”
Haaland's current contract with City is set to expire in June 2027 and reportedly includes a release clause worth at least £150m.
Telegraph Sport reported in October that the Premier League and European champions intended to initiate discussions over a new deal for Haaland during the season.
However, the 23-year-old declined to comment on the possibility of a contract extension, stating that his primary focus is on winning more trophies with City in the coming months following last season's remarkable Treble success.
“My focus mainly now is on the pitch, there’s a lot of games, two days ago was the Manchester derby, now the Champions League [against Copenhagen], Sunday is Liverpool [at Anfield in the Premier League],” he added. “I think I should focus on that. I don’t think I should focus on anything else at the moment.”