Erling Haaland signs lucrative new contract with Man City until 2034

Erling Haaland has signed a new contract at Manchester City through 2034, committing his long-term future to the Premier League champions with one of the most lucrative deals in soccer amid uncertain times for the club on and off the field.

City announced the deal — covering 10 years from the start of this season — on Friday for the 24-year-old Haaland, who has scored 111 goals in 125 games since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 to establish himself as one of the best strikers in the world.

The deal is the longest in the Premier League, with Haaland reportedly earning around 500,000 pounds ($600,000) per week.

Asked what his reaction was when told of the unusual length of Haaland's contract, City manager Pep Guardiola replied: “I said, ‘Can you repeat?’”

The Norway striker will be turning age 34 when the contract expires. The Athletic reported that the deal removed release clauses that were in his previous contract, which was due to expire in June 2027.

“Now I want to keep developing, keep working to get better and look to do my best to try and help us achieve more success going forward,” Haaland said in a City statement.

The new deal for Haaland comes as City awaits a verdict after being charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. Possible sanctions include a points deduction or relegation from the top division.

Among the promotional material published by City to announce the Haaland deal, the striker said tellingly: “Now I am City no matter what."

In one of the videos, Haaland is seen calling City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak to say: “It's all signed now.”

“OK, now I am comfortable,” Khaldoon was heard replying.

“The fact he is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player,″ said Txiki Begiristain, City’s outgoing director of football, "and his love of this club."

It kickstarts what looks like being a busy few weeks for City, which is expected to buy multiple players with the team enduring its worst season since Guardiola joined as manager in 2016.

City is sixth in the Premier League after 21 games of a title defense that has been derailed by injuries to key players and a dip in form of others. Guardiola's team isn't even sure of advancing to the knockout stage of the Champions League, either, and has a crucial game against Paris Saint-Germain next week.

City has been linked with signing striker Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt and young defenders Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens and Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. They would reportedly cost more than $150 million.

“I am really confident that we will turn things around," Haaland said. "Things have been difficult as we are so used to winning games, but also it is a challenge for us.

"To get this feeling of hunger inside every single one of us to not look at things easier. Don’t take things for granted, that is an important thing. I will do everything I can to change things around.”

Haaland scored 52 goals in all competitions — including a single-season record 36 in the Premier League — in his first season with City, when the team won the league, FA Cup and Champions League to clinch the Treble.

He scored 38 goals in 45 appearances last season and has 21 goals already in this campaign as he goes for a third straight Golden Boot in the Premier League.

“Of course he is a special player," Guardiola said. “To find a player like Erling, it's so difficult to find a striker at that level. Once you have it, you need to make the effort to keep him."

Haaland, who announced in October he was expecting his first child with his girlfriend, said it has “been like a dream in this two-and-a-half years.”

“I am really looking forward to what is next,” he said.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE -Manchester City's Erling Haaland waves fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)

FILE -Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates with after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and and Everton, at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Viera, File)

FILE -Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City at Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, England, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

FILE -Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates with the Premier League trophy after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)

FILE -Manchester City's Erling Haaland claps his hands during warmup before the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson, File)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, left, scores his side's second goal against West Ham during a English Premier League soccer match at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring his side's 2nd goal against West Ham during a English Premier League soccer match at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring his side's 2nd goal against West Ham during a English Premier League soccer match at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)