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Erling Haaland can still improve after signing an excellent new contract with Manchester City, says manager Pep Guardiola.
Haaland has won the Premier League Golden Boot in each of his two full seasons with City so far and signed a contract to stay at the club until 2034 on Friday morning.
Haaland will be 34 that summer and will be confident of breaking Alan Shearer’s record of 260 Premier League goals if he lives up to it.
Guardiola said: “If he continues with the numbers since he arrived, then yes (it is possible). It will depend on the team and him, but it is exceptional news for the club.
“He loves the club and the people around him. He loves the Premier League and living here with his family. He must feel that there is no better place for him in the next 10 years.
PEP 💬 After (Erling Haaland signed his contract) we congratulated each other. He makes me a better manager, better staff, that’s for sure. He helps me. pic.twitter.com/C4NyMzwG7m
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 17, 2025
“Of course it can be improved. We all can. The club and the team must create an environment and moments in which he can be unstoppable. That’s when he’s the best.
“More than anything, it’s about understanding the game, the flow of the game and the decisions he has to make.
“He is still young and with the maturity of playing and games it will happen naturally.”
City have had a disappointing season by their lofty standards and enter this weekend in sixth place in the Premier League.
Haaland has scored 21 goals in all competitions, but has just seven in his last 16 games – slow by his normal rate.
Shearer himself believes it is only a matter of time before Haaland – who has 79 Premier League goals to date – catches him.
“If he stays that long there’s no doubt he’ll break that record,” Shearer said. “Maybe by then it will be somebody else – like Harry Kane or Mo Salah.
“But there’s no doubt that if, and it’s a big if, because it’s such a long contract and it takes him to the age of 34, he should have the Premier League record for goals.
“It’s good news for the Premier League because we want all the best players in our league, not so good for the defenders who will be chasing him for many years to come.”
