A tight-lipped Pep Guardiola bluntly refused to comment on reports that Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Erling Haaland in the summer transfer window.
The Citizens boss was in no mood to discuss Haaland during his pre-match news conference ahead City's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday evening. Guardiola was asked to respond after the Mail claimed that Etihad chiefs had struck a mega deal to prise Haaland away from Borussia Dortmund, luring him to east Manchester with a salary worth £500,000 per week.
But while pundits and supporters alike speculate how Haaland will fit into the Citizens' plans next season as English football's highest-paid player, the City boss was unwilling to engage in any transfer talk. "No answer to your question," Guardiola told a reporter probing on the topic of Haaland. "I don't have the concern or this business in my head right now to think about what is going to happen in this club next season."
The Citizens tried and failed to swoop for Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur last summer, leading them to go all-out for Haaland this time around. The 21-year-old has a release clause worth £68million which becomes active in June, having led a hotly-contested transfer chase for the best part of the past two years.
But despite interest from Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, much thanks to super agent Mino Raiola touting to a host of potential suitors across Europe, City look to have won a race for Haaland's signature and ended their hunt for a striker.
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Guardiola's side have lacked a clinical edge in a handful of games this season which could prove fatal in their bid to retain to the Premier League title. However, the Catalan coach has regularly dismissed the notion that his team must play with a recognised No.9.
"We are playing with good striker this season," Guardiola reaffirmed on Tuesday. "So, I don't know what is going to happen in the future. It's next season so I'm not going to talk. You know I've been coming here for a long time, for many years and I've never talked about transfer windows especially when we are playing for incredible things still this season."
The striker discussion has raged on throughout the campaign, eventually leading to the 51-year-old becoming visibly frustrated ahead of his side's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Southampton in March. When quizzed on Haaland amid the initial rumblings of a deal being on the cards, Guardiola replied: "Since I'm here, apparently every month, two months, we're going to sign 50 players.
"Right now, listen, it's impossible I'm going to talk about some guy who's not here, and I don't know if he will be here. He's a Dortmund player. You can ask for this player or another one or another one. A transfer window is going to start, and many things are going to happen."
