Haaland’s record-breaking deal is a coup but what happens if City are relegated? | Jamie Jackson
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Norwegian’s near decade-long contract on £500,000 a week could backfire spectacularly if champions are punished. Erling Haaland’s bumper nine-and-a-half-year record new contract with Manchester City is a certifiable coup for the champions and a life-changing deal for the 24-year-old that provokes several intriguing questions.
![[Erling Haaland puts pen to paper on his record-breaking Manchester City contract]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d93aeee3bf73c197826a807ba47fd10fd4d9aa5d/62_0_1800_1080/master/1800.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The thorniest is what occurs if City are relegated should the club be found guilty of the more than 100 charges brought by the Premier League. The champions deny all the allegations but if they are unsuccessful then, depending on the severity of the verdict, one potential tariff is demotion.
![[Haaland breaks Premier League scoring record as Guardiola's City reach 1,000 goals – video]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d5fff09552f89b9f95eab7ed7324c463aca92f7d/0_0_5472_3078/5472.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
If Haaland does not have a break clause to protect him, fans of Championship or even League One, League Two or non-league teams could enjoy the quaint sight of the best-paid footballer ever to play in England lacing up his boots at their ground. Except that while football can be surreal at times, picturing the blond, 6ft 4in goalscoring phenomenon trotting out at Plymouth, Lincoln, Doncaster, Altrincham or elsewhere in the pyramid seems a stretch. Career ambition and basic economics would come into play, because should City be relegated, Haaland would be a shoo-in to demand a transfer to an elite club, as many of his teammates – the Ballon d’Or winner, Rodri, for one – would too.
Related here is a second question: what happens if City continue at elite level, and Real Madrid, Barcelona or AN Other European aristocrat come calling? It may not happen this or next year. But Haaland is determined to improve, so barring a freak happening the goals will continue to pile up, his numbers will become ever more epoch-defining and he will, at some juncture, surely have to field an offer the suitor will hope is impossible to refuse.
