“Shall we carry on?” – Erling Haaland speaks for the first time about the proceedings against Manchester City

Erling Haaland has addressed the ongoing financial proceedings against his club Manchester City for the first time.

After scoring once and setting up another in Norway's 3-1 Nations League win over Wales on Saturday evening, Haaland spoke to TV 2 Sport about the situation at City.

He said: "That's a question I find difficult to answer. It's a legal dispute." The alleged breaches date from before he joined the Sky Blues: "That was only between 2009 and 2018, so … 2009, I think I played for Bryne FK in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Shall we carry on?"

Haaland said the matter was "between the Premier League and Manchester City". "It's being heard before a panel. Should I answer that? I don't know. It's a bit difficult to answer when I don't really know much about it."

He had not looked into the allegations himself. "I'm focused on performing for Manchester City, a club where I signed a five-year contract in 2022 and a nine-and-a-half-year contract at the end of 2024." Haaland also stressed that he was still "happy" to be a Manchester City player.

In September, Manchester City were found guilty in the "football trial of the century" of breaching financial rules on 114 of 115 charges. The allegations concern the business practices of the club's billionaire owners from Abu Dhabi, who took over City in 2008.

The charges cover 80 alleged breaches of financial regulations between 2009 and 2018, as well as 35 alleged breaches for failing to cooperate with a Premier League investigation.

Among the evidence are emails allegedly exchanged between senior City officials. They are said to suggest that the club artificially inflated sponsorship income from state-controlled Abu Dhabi airline Etihad and telecommunications company Etisalat by declaring direct investments from the Abu Dhabi United Group as regular income. Further documents suggested that payments to then-manager Roberto Mancini were not officially recorded, but disguised as consultancy fees from a club in Abu Dhabi.

What punishment Manchester City will face remains unclear. In the worst case, the Sky Blues would probably be forced out of the Premier League. That could call the futures of some of the club's top stars into question, including Haaland's.

For now, however, the club have launched an appeal that is expected to last until January 2027, before a final verdict is announced.