Journalist Pete O’Rourke reported on Sunday that Arsenal have made contact with Haaland’s representatives, and the striker’s long-stated desire to one day overtake Shearer sits at the heart of their pitch. Haaland has 117 Premier League goals. Shearer finished on 260, meaning Haaland needs 144 more to break the record. At the Norwegian’s rate of roughly 28 league goals a season, O’Rourke writes, he would need “just over five more seasons” in England to clear that gap.

For a 26-year-old reportedly weighing moves to Barcelona and Real Madrid, the record is the one sporting argument that can only be settled by staying put.

The verdict that reshaped the race

Manchester City were found guilty of 114 of 115 financial charges on 25 September, with the independent commission ruling on alleged breaches spanning a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018. Sanctions have yet to be handed down and could stretch from a heavy points deduction to relegation. City lodged an appeal, which goes to a private Appeal Board.

That uncertainty is what has forced the issue. FootballTransfers reported in late September that Arsenal would “without any shadow of a doubt, make a serious play” for Haaland in the event of relegation. There is no relegation clause in his contract, which would make any deal prohibitively expensive without being impossible.

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Romano: Spain is still the long pull

Fabrizio Romano has pushed back on the idea that any decision is close. In an update published on 9 October, the transfer reporter said flatly that “at this stage the answer is no-one knows what Haaland will do next.”

“I would not be surprised one day to see Erling Haaland playing in La Liga because they want him and they will keep insisting for him in the future,” Romano added.

Haaland’s own public line has been loyalty.

“I care a lot about the fans, I’m a fan myself of Man City,” he said in comments carried by TEAMtalk.

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Why the Shearer target complicates Spain

Haaland is already dismantling Shearer’s benchmarks. On 2 December 2025, he reached 100 Premier League goals in his 111th match, beating Shearer’s 124-game mark for the fastest century in competition history.

Chasing the 260 record requires one thing: Premier League seasons, not La Liga ones. That is the sporting lever Arsenal are leaning on. Mikel Arteta has just signed a contract extension through June 2030 after guiding Arsenal to their first league title in 22 years.

For now Haaland remains a City player and the club have given no public signal of anything else. The decisive next date is the Appeal Board hearing on the 114-charge ruling, which will set both City’s sanction and the realistic shape of any transfer window around their centre-forward.

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