Guardiola reacts to petition to ban Haaland by Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and other rival fans

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has reacted to the trending online petitions launched by rival fans to ban Erling Haaland.

Guardiola in his reaction laughed off the joke.

So far, Haaland, who joined Man City from German club Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window has scored 19 goals in 12 appearances.

The 19 goals include three hat-tricks in just eight Premier League fixtures, with his third treble coming in the Citizens’ 6-3 win over Manchester United last Sunday.

Haaland added two more goals in a 5-0 Champions League win over Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Following Haaland’s impressive form for Man City, at least two online petitions have surfaced in the past week, calling for the striker to be banned from English football because his presence is simply not fair on the other teams.

Guardiola laughed off the attempt at his press conference on Friday ahead of the weekend visit of Southampton.

“Yeah, it’s a joke,” said a smiling Guardiola, “it’s a joke, it’s good.”