Erling Haaland is preparing to leave Manchester City in the summer, with the Norwegian expressing dissatisfaction behind the scenes, according to reports.
Manchester City's nightmare seasons shows no signs of slowing down following their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
The loss left the Citizens in seventh place with 27 points, 12 fewer than first-placed Liverpool, who have played a game fewer than the champions.
Guardiola's side are also at risk of elimination from the Champions League given they are 22nd in the table with eight points and occupy the third-last round of 16 playoff spot.
To add to this, Football Insider now claim that Haaland is laying the groundwork to leave the club, with the 24-year-old reportedly moaning in the dressing room at his team's form this campaign.
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Can Man City afford to lose Haaland?
The Norwegian has scored 13 times in the Premier League this season and has netted his side's opening goal on eight occasions, with defender Josko Gvardiol City's next highest scorer having found the back of the net four times.
Haaland broke the record for most goals in a single Premier League season in 2022-23 when he scored 36 times, surpassing Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who netted 34 each in 1993-94 and 1994-95 respectively.
The striker has averaged exactly one goal per 90 in the top flight, as well as 1.18 assists per 90, and only needs to score 24 more times in the league to reach a century of goals in the England's premier division.
In his first five league matches of 2024-25, Haaland found the back of the net on 10 occasions, scoring hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United.
However, he only scored three goals in his subsequent 12 Premier League fixtures, blanking nine times and producing just one assist in that period.
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Should Haaland look at himself?
One of the criticisms of Haaland since joining City has been his relatively limited impact on games when he does not score.
The 24-year-old has averaged under 20 touches of the ball per 90 in the league this term, whereas Liverpool striker Diogo Jota has averaged just under 35 touches per 90.
While it is difficult to expect Haaland to become more involved in build-up play considering he has proven how deadly he can be on the last line of an opposition's defence, he has stood out for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks.
Guardiola has defended his striker this season, telling Spanish media: "Erling is so important for us, will be important for us and we need to use him better."
Given the striker's track record at City, it would not be surprising if Haaland was to get back on the scoresheet more regularly, but fans will hope that Guardiola can convince him to stay despite the team's overall struggles.
Lewis Nolan
