Guardiola urges Haaland to stop talking to Real Madrid

The Sky Blues head coach, Pep Guardiola, has intervened to ask Erling Haaland to ‘stop talking’ to Los Blancos amid growing concerns over his future. Pep thinks that such discussions can have a negative effect on Haaland as his team is entering the most crucial phase of the campaign.

While the Norwegian goal scorer remains a key figure with Man City, the Catalan boss wants all negotiations to end until the season is finished.

Guardiola sees Erling not just as the main forward of the team from Etihad, but also as the crucial figure that allows the club to compete at the highest level in all tournaments. For Pep, maintaining the Norwegian striker’s mental and physical peak is non-negotiable, especially as the most crucial part of the campaign already begun.

Rumors are that Pep personally asked Erling to end the discussions with the Royal club at the moment. The head coach is not necessarily trying to block such a transfer in the future, but is insisting that all negotiations be shelved until the summer, as he wants Haaland 100% focused until the end of the campaign as the Sky Blues are in the title fight with Arsenal in the Premier League and also in the playoffs in the Champions League.

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Merci Paris 🇫🇷🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/yBNYqJsgKp

— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) February 26, 2026