Erling Haaland confidently predicted he would help Manchester City win the Champions League after signing for the club last summer.
Haaland joined City in a £51million transfer from Borussia Dortmund in June 2022. The Norwegian striker signed a five-year contract with City after scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances for Dortmund.
He hit the ground running with his new club and ended his debut campaign with 52 goals, the Premier League title, FA Cup, Champions League trophy and a glut of personal accolades. Outsiders have been stunned by the immediacy of Haaland’s success, but the man himself is not surprised.
Speaking to Mirror Football, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak gave an insight into Haaland’s confidence. He said: “What an addition he has been. What amazed me about Erling is the confidence. He's got something special, confidence with respect.
“And to be having that conversation post signing your contract with your chairman and saying at the end of that conversation, ‘Mr chairman, I'm going to win the Champions League for you.
"I'm here to win the Champions League for Manchester City and we're going to win it’ a year ago is really a testament to the greatness of this player. And to show you where Erling is going, this is the beginning. And the scary part, this is just the beginning for him.
“The beauty of Erling is that he's a champion. He's never satisfied. If it's one goal, if it's no goals, if it's two goals, if it's five goals, even five goals.
"And I remember when he scored five after the game, he was telling me, ‘Yeah, but I should have scored another three or four’, genuinely not joking. Like in his mind, he knows ‘I should have probably scored seven that night or even eight that night’.
“That’s that winning mentality. That's that winning recipe which you know is the intangible. That's the intangible, the anomaly that makes you great. And in Erling, I think this club now, we have an unbelievable, unbelievable player.”
Al Mubarak admitted the overriding feeling was one of relief for City to finally conquer Europe and land the Champions League, after so many near-misses in recent seasons.
“It reminds me, winning this, it reminds me back to 2011/12, that QPR game, the first Premier League," said Al Mubarak. “There was relief in that game and then happiness.
“With the Champions League, we've tried so hard for so many years. And then to finally, finally do it, it's relief, it's happiness, but it's really more relief. We finally have that trophy.”
