Ruben Dias: We want to be the best possible foundation for Erling Haaland

Manchester City centre-half Ruben Dias has lauded Erling Haaland’s extraordinary goalscoring form and has called upon his teammates to play to the Norwegian’s strengths further as the campaign progresses.

Haaland has scored 21 times and provided three assists in 21 games in all competitions this season, being largely the be-all and end-all of Manchester City’s goalscoring arsenal as the Blues look to improve on their disappointing 2024-25 season.

The 25-year-old committed his long-term future to Manchester City in January, penning a sensational 10-year contract that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium till the end of the 2033-34 campaign – signalling a statement of intent from both the club and Haaland.

Since his arrival to England from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Haaland has established himself as arguably the greatest goalscorer in the world as he continues to shatter domestic and European records left, right and centre in his fourth full season in Manchester.

City are undergoing a period of transition on and off the pitch following the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football in the summer, with the jury out of whether the Blues can challenge Arsenal all the way in the Premier League title race this term.

Haaland has been a cheat code for Pep Guardiola so far this season and the extent to which Manchester City have been relying on the Leeds-born forward to provide the goods every other week raises concerns over the Blues’ title hopes effectively ending should their talisman pick up an injury as the 2025-26 season progresses.

Though Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and summer signing Rayan Cherki have shouldered greater responsibility in attack in recent months, keeping Haaland fit and firing is indispensable for Manchester City’s title aspirations – owing largely to the absence of an out-and-out number nine in Guardiola’s squad to replace the Norwegian.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports this week, Manchester City defender Ruben Dias outlined Haaland’s importance to his side and called upon his teammates to help the forward raise his stock further.

“He’s been very strong! I hope he continues. At the end of the day, it’s also a reflection of our team; he’s one of our leaders,” Dias said. “Just the statistics shows you how starving he is, and that needs to be the mindset of everyone in this team; everyone in their little fights, doing their little missions.

“But that has to be the mindset, and obviously I want him to keep on going. Full throttle. Keep on pushing, keep on being better, keep on scoring goals as much as he can, break all the records that exist – they’re there to be broken.

“In a way, we want to be the best possible foundation for him to keep on pursuing the greatness he wants to pursue.”

Dias and Haaland are both part of Manchester City’s leadership group and with club captain Bernardo Silva likely to leave the club when his contract expires next summer, Guardiola would be considering one of the duo to take over the armband from Silva should he decide to part ways with the Blues.