Erling Haaland has sent a defiant message to Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League, vowing that Manchester City will “fight to win everything again” next season. Speaking directly to supporters at a club celebration, the Norwegian striker made clear that the two-year drought without the league title has only sharpened his hunger — and that City’s era of dominance is far from over, even without Pep Guardiola at the helm.
“It has been an up-and-down season but we are going to try to keep pushing and try to fight to win the biggest trophies we can,” Haaland said. “That’s what we want to win and we are fighting to win everything again.” His comments came after Arsenal last week dethroned Liverpool, the previous champions, to claim their first Premier League title in 22 years — a remarkable turnaround under Mikel Arteta that ended City’s four-year stranglehold on the trophy.
Haaland, who finished as the division’s top scorer this season, acknowledged the challenge but insisted the squad will not retreat. He singled out departing teammates Bernardo Silva and John Stones, along with Guardiola, as “truly legends of the club,” adding: “It has been an amazing journey but we need to keep pushing and fighting even without them. Now it is time to celebrate them.” The striker’s own commitment to City is long-term: he signed a contract extension in January 2025 that runs until 2034, and despite persistent speculation linking him with Real Madrid and Barcelona, the club has made clear he will not be sold.
Guardiola’s departure and City’s future under a new manager
Pep Guardiola is leaving Manchester City at the end of the 2025-26 season, bringing the curtain down on a decade that reshaped English football. During his ten years at the Etihad, the Catalan won 20 major trophies — six Premier League titles, the Champions League, three FA Cups, five League Cups, and more — including a domestic double in his final campaign: the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. His departure represents the most significant structural change City have faced since the Abu Dhabi takeover, and the question of who replaces him dominates the club’s immediate future.
The heavy favourite to succeed Guardiola is Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea boss who previously served as Guardiola’s assistant during City’s historic treble-winning 2022-23 season. Other names in the frame include Vincent Kompany, Luis Enrique, and Andoni Iraola. For Haaland and his teammates, the transition is the biggest unknown. Yet the striker’s public vow suggests a determination to prove that City’s machine can keep producing even after its architect steps away. “We are going to try to keep pushing and try to fight to win the biggest trophies we can,” he repeated, urging the squad to use the disappointment of consecutive league failures — finishing runners-up in 2024-25 to Liverpool and again this season to Arsenal — as motivation. “It’s not good enough,” he has said previously of the recent standard.
Guardiola’s trophy haul is unmatched in modern English football, and his departure will leave a void that no manager can simply fill. City’s dominance has been built on his tactical innovations, relentless pressing, and ability to evolve systems mid-season. The new manager will inherit a squad that remains formidable — Haaland, Phil Foden, Rodri, and others are in their prime — but the psychological weight of losing the manager who defined the era is real. The club’s hierarchy will hope that the continuity offered by Maresca, who knows the inner workings of the Guardiola system, can smooth the transition.
Fan celebration and the end of an era
Haaland’s warning was delivered on Monday evening at Co-op Live in Manchester, during an event that marked both a celebration and a farewell. Earlier in the day, City held an open-top bus parade through the city — a route that included the National Football Museum, Cathedral Gardens, and Deansgate — to honour the men’s domestic cup double, the Women’s Super League title, and the FA Youth Cup triumph. It was a day of mixed emotions: jubilation for the silverware collected, but also a poignant send-off for Guardiola, Bernardo Silva, and John Stones, all of whom are expected to leave this summer.
Haaland addressed the crowd directly from the stage, praising his departing colleagues and Guardiola before turning his gaze to next season. The atmosphere was defiant rather than downbeat, with fans chanting the striker’s name. “Now it is time to celebrate them,” he said, referring to the departing legends. “But next season we need to keep pushing and fighting.”
The context of City’s recent league struggles makes Haaland’s words significant. Arsenal, under Arteta, have built a solid, defensively disciplined side that specialises in set pieces, and their 2023-24 campaign was record-breaking: 28 wins, 91 goals scored — their highest in a top-flight season since 1970-71 — and only 29 goals conceded, their best defensive record in 20 years. They had finished as runners-up in 2023-24, losing the title to City by just two points, and that narrow defeat fuelled their eventual success. For City, the challenge is now to respond not just to Arsenal’s rise but to the structural change within their own club. Haaland’s vow — “we are fighting to win everything again” — is a promise that the hunger remains, even as an era draws to a close.
