Erling Haaland has extended his contract with Manchester City by nine and a half years until 2034.
The club announced this on Friday. According to media reports, the extension will give the Norwegian international player improved financial conditions, but exact figures are not yet known. According to The Athletic, all exit clauses have been removed from the previous contract, which runs until 2027, making it one of the most lucrative contracts in sports history. Haaland had been traded to Real Madrid from time to time in the past.
“Manchester City is a special club with fantastic people and great fans, and it’s the kind of environment that brings out the best in everyone,” Haaland said, according to the club’s official statement.
2022 from Dortmund to Manchester
The top striker moved to England from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022 for around 60 million euros. Under team manager Pep Guardiola, Haaland won the treble of the championship, FA Cup and Champions League with City in 2023. In the previous season, Manchester also successfully defended its Premier League title.
In 126 games for City, Haaland scored 111 goals and set numerous records in a short time. This season the champions are struggling with injury problems and are only in sixth place after 21 games. Haaland has 16 goals so far this Premier League season.
FIFA statutes actually stipulate a maximum of five years of contract
In its transfer regulations, FIFA actually stipulates that a contract may run for a maximum of five years. But she makes an exception to this rule. Where national law allows it, longer contracts may also be concluded. This is possible in Great Britain, so the Premier League rules say: “A contract between a club and a player can be concluded for any term.”
Most recently, Chelsea used long contract periods as a loophole in UEFA’s Financial Fair Play. The transfer fee can be written off against expenses over the term of the contract – the longer the term, the lower the burden on the balance sheet in Financial Fair Play. UEFA has now closed this loophole and only allows depreciation over a maximum of five years.
Bundesliga: Such long contracts are hardly conceivable in practice
In principle, longer contracts would also be possible in the Bundesliga, but in practice this is practically never the case. The “Player Licensing Regulations” of the German Football League (DFL) state in accordance with the FIFA regulations: “The maximum term of a contract should not exceed five years.” The word “should” leaves a back door open, which Bayer Leverkusen, for example, recently used. The Belgian young player Noah Mbamba received a five-and-a-half year contract until 2028 in January 2023.
The fact that clubs in Germany almost never go beyond this is due to the German part-time and fixed-term employment law. This means that an employment relationship of more than five years can only be terminated by the employee after five years with a notice period of six months. With a contract of eight and a half years like Mudryk’s, the risk of serious injuries or major decline in form would lie solely with the club – which makes such contracts unattractive in German football.