The Norway striker’s first public comments since an independent commission found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League financial charges were about unity, not legality. Speaking to Sky Sports and club media on Thursday after returning from the international break, Haaland framed the moment as something the dressing room and the stands would have to ride out together.

“We have to stick together and we have to spread the love to each other. So yeah, stick together, enjoy the ride and smile.”

“No matter what happens in life, we always have to have a smile.”

Haaland went no further than that. He did not address the substance of the ruling, which the commission handed down on 29 September and which Al Jazeera reported found the club guilty on all counts bar one failure-to-cooperate charge. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called the decision “the most significant in Premier League history”. The club maintains it is innocent and must file its appeal by Friday, which will be reviewed by a new three-person panel. No hearing date has been set and no punishment has been decided; the commission has the power to fine the club, deduct points or expel it from the league.

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What Haaland left alone

The 26-year-old also said nothing about his own future at a club now facing years of appeals and the risk of relegation by sanction. Haaland signed a nine-and-a-half-year contract in January 2025 that runs through 2034, and he has not publicly questioned that commitment since the verdict landed. On Thursday he turned the conversation back towards the supporters.

“I care a lot about the city, I have to say. I care a lot about the fans because I’m a fan myself, and I feel with them as well.”

“We have to stick together, we have to stay with each other and we have to stay positive.”

Anfield on Sunday is the first real test

City travel to Liverpool on Sunday for their first match since the ruling, and the hostile reception at Anfield will be the first live measure of how the verdict has landed with opposing supporters. It will also be Enzo Maresca’s first fixture against Liverpool as City manager; the Italian replaced Pep Guardiola at the end of June on a three-year deal, having previously coached City’s elite development squad and worked as Guardiola’s assistant during the 2022/23 treble season.

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Haaland acknowledged the weight of the fixture without engaging with the politics around it, telling Fox Sports that the trip to Anfield is “always special”. Kick-off at Anfield is on Sunday, 11 October.

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