Erling Haaland thinks winning the Champions League with Manchester City would be his “biggest dream” and says it would be a historic triple.
After winning the Premier League for the sixth time in as many seasons, Pep Guardiola’s team will take on Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday before taking on Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10.
While Guardiola’s City have dominated the domestic scene, they have not yet been crowned European champions. United is the only English team to have achieved the treble, under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.
It would be surreal to make this history, said Haaland to BBC Sport. We don’t need to hide the fact that this is the reason they purchased me.
“It would have a huge impact. I’ll try my hardest to make it happen and will do whatever it takes. My greatest wish is that it will come true.
However, the 22-year-old Norway striker cautioned that United and Inter will be “motivated” to “destroy” City’s prospects of winning the triple crown.
It’s not simple, though, Haaland added. “It’s two finals against two excellent teams, and they’ll do everything in their power to try to sabotage that.”
Haaland has had a record-breaking first season in the Premier League, scoring 52 goals overall and a league-high 36 goals in the top division.
He is the first player to win both the Premier League and Young Player of the Year awards in the same season and was also awarded the Men’s Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association (FWA).
The former Borussia Dortmund and Salzburg striker claimed that his success in England had changed his life.
I’ll be noticed wherever I go because I’m 196 cm tall and have long blond hair, he remarked. That’s how my life is, then. What should I do?
“I can do nothing; that is my life. All I can do is make an effort to have fun. When I’m at home and surrounded by kind people, I try to unwind. Try to just have fun in my life.
Haaland acknowledged that he was far from perfect and continued, “I’ve been evolving in a really great way and that’s incredibly crucial for me because I’m still so young.
“I’m 22 years old, I still have a long career ahead of me, and I still need to grow. When pondering what to do next more than a year ago, I was also considering that.
It would mean everything. I will do everything I possibly can to try to make it happen
Erling Haaland on Manchester City’s treble chances