Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has responded to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s comments about Erling Haaland. According to Ibrahimovic, Erling Haaland is not reaching his full potential due to Guardiola’s ego.
The former Barcelona striker compares his past situation at Barcelona with Haaland’s current situation at City. Ibra did not have a pleasant experience with Guardiola when he joined in 2009. He only lasted one season at the Camp Nou. The Spanish giant downloaded it at AC Milan.
Ibrahimovic did not attract attention due to Messi’s brilliance and the whole team is built around the Argentine.
In his autobiographical book, the Swedish striker criticized his former coach for mistreating him. The striker also assured that the coach always left the locker room every time he entered.
Right now, the Norwegian is the top scorer with 18 goals in just 12 Premier League games. He has a total of 23 goals in all competitions.
The striker has just signed for Manchester City this season. City have decided to activate the €60 million termination clause in the striker’s contract with Borussia Dortmund this summer. The Norwegian signed a five-year contract with the club. Despite having various concerns, Haaland has just shattered every Premier League club defence.
A few weeks ago, former United and City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel shared his thoughts on Haaland on BBC Radio 5 Live. He spoke: “That Zlatan-style goal, and Ronaldo is there too. He you see the best, the best strikers in one”. That didn’t stop there. Former City defender Joleon Lescott has also compared Haaland to Ibrahimovic.
While speaking to Canal Plus, Ibrahimovic said about Haaland: “Do I like Haaland? Yes very much so. I think he is a very smart player.”
But he also added: “It depends on Guardiola’s ego whether he lets it be bigger than him or not.”
Guardiola’s response
When asked by journalists about Ibrahimovic’s comments, Guardiola ridiculed his former player. He said, “He’s right, he’s absolutely right. In this club, in this team, my ego is beyond any other person, of each player.
He also added: “I said ‘Erling, please, no more goals, otherwise the newspapers won’t talk about me.’ Guardiola also lampooned his former striker saying he should “write another book”.
Once, the striker claimed Guardiola as his “enemy” in the locker room.
Manchester City is now the league leader with 32 points from 13 games. But if Arsenal win today, they will lose the lead again.
After an injury, Haaland returned to appear in the first team in yesterday’s game against Fulham. Haaland scored from the penalty spot just seconds before the final whistle.
