Pep Guardiola accepts Erling Haaland’s bumper new contract could prevent Manchester City from signing other top strikers.
The City manager’s comments come as the club appear to be close to completing a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush.
The prolific Haaland, who scored 111 goals in just 126 appearances for City, has committed to the reigning Premier League champions until 2034, when he signed a remarkable new nine-and-a-half year contract this week .
His long-term presence in the team will limit opportunities for others in attack, meaning any new signing will have to accept a backup role or – potentially like Marmoush – offer something different to get into the team.
Guardiola said: “The bigger strikers won’t come in to replace Erling, so we need to find them young to accept the role.
“Or it’s different players – like Oscar (Bobb), (James) McAtee, Phil (Foden), and maybe without Erling we’ll play a different way, with a false nine, with alternatives, with more runners from the outside, more runners for the channels inside We will find solutions.
“We couldn’t recruit (Kylian) Mbappé, for example, as a top player because normally we play with just one striker.
“But of course we have alternatives in case Erling can’t play every minute. We have other options.
City have reportedly agreed a fee with Frankfurt for Egypt international Marmoush, who can operate on the front line.
He will effectively replace Julian Alvarez in the team after the Argentine left for Atletico Madrid last summer.
Haaland’s new deal locks up a team cornerstone at a time when other members of an aging team are likely to leave.
Captain Kyle Walker has asked to leave the club and, after being left out of the last two games, could be absent again when City travel to Ipswich on Sunday.
Another veteran star, playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, 33, is now in the final six months of his contract and could be open to approaches from elsewhere.
Guardiola said: “Of course it can happen. I’m pretty sure when Kevin was 22-23 and could offer 10 years we might not accept it, but now it’s different.
“But I don’t think about what will happen next season. I think of Ipswich and, three days later, of Paris. And three days later, Chelsea. Then we have a tough month in February.
“That’s what I think. Next season, I don’t think for a single second.