OFFICIAL: Erling Haaland signs for Manchester City

Manchester City have made the signing of Erling Haaland official. The Norwegian striker becomes a Sky Blue player until 2027 after activating his buyout clause to Borussia Dortmund. City reportedly agreed to pay his £51 million release clause. Haaland leaves behind his spell in Germany and makes the big jump to the Premier League with Man City.

"Manchester City can confirm we have reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of striker Erling Haaland to the club on 1st July 2022. The transfer remains subject to the club finalising terms with the player," the club said in a statement on its official Twitter account.

Erling Haaland has become one of the best players at the moment and his intention is to compete with Kylian Mbappe for the next Golden Ball. The striker has not stopped breaking records and his growth has been unstoppable in recent years. Despite his recent injuries this season, the new City player underwent his medical on 9th May.

It was a hard-fought and complicated signing due to the number of teams that were after him. Borussia tried to keep hold of him at all times, but their poor season has made the Norwegian decide to change to another team. Haaland wanted to go to a team whose sporting project revolved around him and to be the star. There was no shortage of suitors, but he finally made the decision to sign for the English team.

Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Man United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, among others, also wanted the player's services. Gradually, some of them disappeared from the equation, leaving City and Madrid. After several months of negotiation, City won out over the team that knocked them out of the Champions League this season to sign one of the most promising strikers of the moment.

The striker will be by far the highest paid of the squad and will be paid around €30 million a year. The No9 Guardiola wanted will be part of a star-studded squad with the aim of winning City's first Champions League title. After several years of trying and falling just short of the title, will they be able to win the coveted trophy this year?

 

May 10, 2022

A demolishing striker

At 21 years old, the Leeds-born striker has managed to put up record-breaking numbers. He started playing professionally for several teams in his homeland, Bryne and Molde, when Salzburg took notice of him and signed him in the 2019 winter transfer window for which they went as far as paying €5m. The player did not disappoint the Austrians and after his half-season in Salzburg he completed his best season in 2019/2020. 

It was in this season that all the spotlight was on the 18-year-old who scored 29 goals in 27 appearances for his team. His biggest breakthrough came in the Champions League where he managed to score 8 goals. That made several teams target him and start negotiating for his signature. It was Borussia Dortmund who went ahead of everyone else and paid his 20 million clause to take him to the Signal Iduna Park. There he has managed to establish himself as one of the best strikers after two and a half seasons.

He arrived in the 2020 winter transfer window and managed to score 16 goals in his 19 appearances. However, the Norwegian's best season came in 2020/2021 when he managed to score stratospheric figures on a par with the best. The striker managed to score 43 goals in 44 games, almost a goal per game and won the DFB Pokal with Dortmund. This past season he has had several injuries and has not been at his best, but he still played 32 games and scored 28 goals. 

All these successes have allowed him to play 17 matches for the Norwegian national team and score 15 goals. However, this year has been quite complicated for the striker after being eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage and without qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar 2022. Two competitions that his great rival, Kylian Mbappe, will be playing in, which means that he is not eligible to fight for the Ballon d'Or. Between that and injuries, the player will be looking forward to a change of scenery and to continue in a winning dynamic.

The choice for Man City

Pep Guardiola was unable to prise Harry Kane away from Tottenham last summer. Manchester City made two bids, one for €120m and the other for €175m, but were unable to convince Daniel Levy, the London club's chairman, to sell him. With the imminent signing of Erling Haaland, Guardiola completes the puzzle with the missing piece. It was the position he had been looking for several years and now he has one of the best in the business, he will not be able to complain. 

With this signing, Manchester City have acquired a man who scored almost a goal per game in his three seasons at Borussia Dortmund, a record reminiscent of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their prime. Guardiola finds a target who will receive passes from Foden, De Bruyne and Cancelo, and finish off the counter-attacks launched by Sterling and Riyad Mahrez. He joins them all in the hunt for the most coveted trophy at the Etihad Stadium, the Champions League.

Haaland will follow in his father's footsteps and move to the Premier League, but on a very different stage. Alfie Haaland played for Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City prior to his arrival in the league. His career ended abruptly when Roy Keane took revenge by smashing his left knee in a Manchester derby. His father's influence may have been key in his choice of the Sky Blue project to continue his football career. 

 

May 10, 2022