Erling Haaland remains fully focused on football while Manchester City wait for the outcome of their appeal after an independent commission found the club guilty of 114 out of 115 financial charges.
That is the message from Alfie Haaland, who said his son is thinking only about playing as much football as he can and concentrating on that. Speaking to ViaPlay, Alfie also said the situation around Manchester City has been circulating for quite a while and that the recent ruling at least gives the club something concrete to fight in an appeal case that is still to be heard.
City’s case now moves to appeal
The charges relate to a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, when Manchester City allegedly used sham contracts to mask funding. The club has maintained its innocence while the appeal is pending, but the ruling has raised the possibility of severe sanctions, including relegation.
Alfie said there is an awful lot written in the media and that it is difficult for Manchester City to come out and defend themselves while the appeal is ongoing. He said the club deserves a fair hearing and that people will have to wait to see whether it can prove its innocence eventually.
He also suggested the current players should not be judged for events that allegedly happened years ago. According to Alfie, the players today had nothing to do with it, and he felt the squad has handled the uncertainty well and continued to play well through it all.
What it means for Haaland
For Haaland, the immediate picture appears unchanged. Alfie said the striker is still concentrating on football and trying to play as much as possible, which matters for Manchester City as the club deals with a legal process that could shape its future.
Alfie added that City lost their last match, so the focus now is to get back to winning ways. For the team, that means trying to keep normal football matters at the center of attention even as the appeal process continues off the pitch.
If nothing else, Alfie’s comments underline that Haaland is staying put in the present tense: focused on his game, not the headlines around the club, while Manchester City and the Premier League wait for the next stage of a case that has already become one of the sport’s biggest off-field stories.
