It’s finally been confirmed that Manchester City have agreed on a deal to sign Erling Haaland.
Multiple reports began to surface at the start of the week indicating that City were ready to activate the striker's €75m release clause and the 21-year-old will now join Pep Guardiola’s squad this summer.
Haaland has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, helped by the fact he’s netted 85 goals in just 88 matches since joining Dortmund in January 2020. Over the last 12 months, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have all thought to have been interested in the Norwegian, though his preferred destination was City which was key to them winning the race to land his signature.
It’s a move that represents somewhat of a coup for the champions who have lacked a natural number nine profile since Sergio Aguero’s departure last year.
With Haaland coming in, speculation is growing that City forward Gabriel Jesus could be heading the other way. It was hoped he’d become City's main man after Aguero’s departure, but instead, the 25-year-old has often been a peripheral figure this season.
He’s fought his way back into the team in more recent weeks, helped by scoring seven goals across his last eight matches, yet it seems this might not be enough for him to remain at the club, especially given there’s just one year left on his current deal and as of yet no extension has been offered.
Few would argue that from a goalscoring point of view, Haaland represents a notable upgrade on Jesus and it’s easy to see why the 21-year-old is one of the most sought after forwards in the world.
However, his transfer doesn’t come without risk, especially if City were to simultaneously let Jesus leave too. This is because concerns are growing regarding the striker’s injury record.
During his first season-and-a-half at Dortmund, Haaland was officially out for 51 days through a variety of injuries, this amounted to 12 games missed. But that number has significantly increased in this campaign.
He’s so far missed over 100 days of action and could miss his 18th game of the season this weekend as a result of an illness picked up prior to Dortmund’s 3-1 win at Greuther Furth last week. This means that the striker has missed 40% of his side’s matches across all competitions this season.
A bigger concern about that record is that absences tend to be as a consequence of a variety of injuries, as opposed to one longstanding problem. This season alone Haaland has suffered with injuries to his ankle, hip and thigh, among other things.
While Haaland is undoubtedly an elite goalscorer, the same is a moot point if he continues to break down meaning City won’t be able to get him on the pitch regularly enough to justify their investment.
That problem would be enhanced if City couldn’t then turn to Jesus or even Raheem Sterling in his absence, with the England international also being linked with a move away from the Etihad this summer.
It’s possible that City officials have considered this risk, meaning that the club may be reluctant to allow either Jesus or Sterling to leave - at least this summer anyway.
Instead, they may opt to keep them at the club to act as adequate forward alternatives in the event Haaland's fitness issues persist.
