Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Norwegian centre forward Erling Haaland has agreed a new 10-year contract with Manchester City that will keep him at the English football club until 2034 and probably make him one of the highest paid players in the world.
Haaland, 24, joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and has since scored 111 goals in just 126 matches. His arrival helped the club to win its first Champions League title in 2023, a season in which the team also won the Premier League and the FA Cup.
City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “He has made an incredible impact already in his time here and his amazing numbers and records speak for themselves.”
While City has been the dominant club in English football in recent years, winning six Premier League titles in the past seven years, it has been struggling this season. It is currently sixth in the league table, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.
Haaland’s long contract is part of a new trend in English football imported initially by Chelsea FC’s US owners to help spread the cost of new players.
Contracts of a decade or more are common in US sport: a new record was set last month when Dominican baseball player Juan Soto agreed a 15-year deal worth $765mn with the New York Mets.
