Forget what you heard.
For those of you clinging to the hope that
Manchester City's
Erling Haaland-spearheaded dominance of
the Premier League literally everything before them might only last a couple of years - bad news. That release clause? It's not even a thing.
Reports from Spain had suggested earlier in the week that Florentino Perez, still furious at being jilted by Kylian Mbappe, was set to respond by bringing Haaland to Real Madrid within a couple of years.
City, unless they managed to renegotiate with Haaland and nullify a release clause in his contract, would be powerless to prevent the enormous Norwegian from heading to Spain for a very large amount of money.
Haaland's clause at Dortmund
It made sense, too. Haaland's representatives' insistence on a release clause is what
famously scuppered a proposed move to Manchester United in 2020, opening the door for Borussia Dortmund to take him to Germany. Dortmund were willing to add a clause to his contract, activated by City. It wasn't much of a reach to believe a similar arrangement had been made with his new club.
Except, no. According to
Pep Guardiola, there is no clause allowing him to move to Real Madrid in a couple of years. In fact, there's no clause whatsoever. It's all nonsense.
Guardiola on Haaland clause
"It's not true," said the City boss after Haaland had added another two goals during the Champions League win over Copenhagen on Tuesday night. "He has not got a release clause for Real Madrid, or any other team.
"Am I annoyed by the rumours? No, absolutely not. Rumours, and people talking, you cannot control it - so always we have to worry about what we can control.
"The important thing is that he has adapted really well. I have the feeling he is incredibly happy here, and this is the most important thing."
So that settles it then. Haaland is probably going to be staying put for more than just two years. Sorry Florentino. Sorry everyone else.
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