Erling Haaland has defended his comments about being pressured into making a decision on his future at Borussia Dortmund.
Haaland is set to be subject of huge transfer interest this summer as a €75m release clause becomes active in his contract at the Bundesliga side, with a host of Europe’s elite willing to trigger the fee for a forward who has scored 80 goals in 79 appearances for Dortmund.
The 21-year-old discussed his future earlier this month and revealed Dortmund are pressing him into making a decision, as the Germans look to plan for next season with or without the Norwegian in their ranks.
Haaland has now defended his decision to speak out and says ‘it was time’ that he provided insight on his future ahead of the summer transfer window.
“I don’t really want to say too much about it, but I felt it was time for me to say something,” he told Sky.
“A lot of others were speaking – so that was it. Now, I don’t want to say too much. I said what I said, and now we move on.”
Haaland has cemented his status as one of European football’s leading goalscorers in recent seasons, averaging better than a goal-per-game since signing for Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg.
He became the youngest player to finish as the Champions League’s leading scorer in 2020/21, but believes there is still significant room for improvement in his game.
“I think I can improve on everything,” he said.
“If you say I am good at finishing, I can improve my finishing a lot. I can become faster, so I can improve that. I can become stronger, so I can improve that.
“But if I should improve one thing, it would be to not get injured, because if I am not injured I will play a lot more games and I will deliver even better. If you were to ask what my goals are for 2022, it is to not be injured, and the goals for the rest of my career are not be injured. That’s the main thing.”
