Erling Haaland admits he ‘didn’t expect’ to have such a successful first season at Manchester City.
Haaland is the leading scorer in the Premier League this season after a record-breaking debut campaign at the Etihad. The forward has scored 36 league goals since his move from Borussia Dortmund last summer and has ended his first season in English football with a Premier League winners’ medal.
City were crowned champions last weekend and remain in pursuit of a historic treble, with Pep Guardiola’s side set to contest the FA Cup and Champions League finals in the coming weeks.
Haaland – who was named as The Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year – said it is important that City ‘stay focused’ ahead of a defining period.
“There are two finals left, we have to stay focused even though we won the Premier League,” he said at the Football Writers Awards on Thursday evening.
“We have to stay focused to achieve what we can achieve in the next two finals. I will do everything I can to achieve good things in the finals and hopefully win both.
“It’s a good thing being favourites [against Inter Milan] because it means we have qualities, we have to attack the game in our way, play our football and in the end we’ll see who wins it.”
Haaland’s first season at Manchester City has seen the Norwegian break a whole host of records, including for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season.
The 22-year-old has 52 goals in all competitions, the most recorded in a season for an English club since the Second World War, and Haaland admits the level of his success has even caught him by surprise.
“I feel good, it’s a special moment,” he added. “I expected to do good things but, to do this, I didn’t expect.”
Haaland opened up on City’s title success and their pursuit of further trophies and admitted it was an ‘amazing feeling’ to lift the Premier League trophy.
“It’s really just about taking it game-by-game, to be honest, and to focus on what we can focus about,” he said.
“I don’t like to focus on the future or the past. I like to live in moment and I like to take it game-by-game – exactly what he (Pep Guardiola) said we were going to do and that’s what we did.
“We focused and we achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve. In the end it’s unreal what we did, being behind all season and we came like a unit together. It was amazing and an amazing feeling.”
