Erling Haaland excites Man City fans at charity night with Pep Guardiola claim

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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is more optimistic heading into the new season after seeing the mood Pep Guardiola is in

Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland delighted Manchester City fans with a private audience for charity this week - and then teased that Pep Guardiola could be returning with more fire than ever this season.

City's No.9 helped to raise tens of thousands of pounds for City in the Community with a special evening at the Etihad for Blues. On top of the money raised through ticket sales, an auction that included signed boots and signed shirts for City and Norway as well as a Treble shirt added £7,000 for CITC that will be a significant help for the coming year.

CITC CEO Mike Geary said: “Erling’s personal commitment to this event has an incredible impact on our fundraising calendar. We are grateful to him and to the supporters who joined us to make a difference.”

Those lucky enough to be there got an insight into one of the world's biggest superstars - and one who has made Manchester his home, choosing to sign for City in 2022 and signing a mammoth contract extension earlier this year to keep him at the Etihad until 2034. He spoke of how he had settled in the city and how the new signings were adapting to the team.

Then there was the line about Guardiola, which should make City fans excited for what lies ahead this season. "The best part is that I've never seen Pep Guardiola as motivated as he is now," he said.

"That's a really good thing. People think he might be happy with what he won and everything but how motivated, how ready and energetic he is now is amazing to see."

City arrive into the season with mixed expectations after their shock loss of form last season. Arsenal and Liverpool are both more favoured to win the Premier League this season, and Guardiola suggested last week that the Blues may start the new campaign slowly.

"We’ve got some niggles, players coming back with some injuries, but the mood is quite similar to what we were living at the Club World Cup," he told reporters in Palermo.

"Maybe we missed some friendly games to prepare and arrive the first three games against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton a little bit better but we needed to rest and decided to make more training sessions than play games."

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