To say plenty of Blues were on a downer at the Etihad on Sunday, Manchester City have rarely felt more on the up. As hundreds of supporters abseiled down the east stand of the stadium behind statues of three modern great players to raise money for City in the Community, thousands more were across the ground welcoming a modern-day superstar who could also leave his mark on the club.
The sun beamed down outside the Colin Bell Stand as Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega were all introduced to fans; Kalvin Phillips was a late cancellation after becoming ill.
It felt like a statement from City to hold this event, a show of the strength of their transfer business only days into the window. Here was a world-class striker coveted by all, one of the brightest young players in South America, and a new goalkeeper primed to give Ederson fresh competition in one of the biggest overhauls of the squad since Pep Guardiola arrived at the club.
Also read: Erling Haaland opens up on the moment Man City reality hit home
But it was also a scene that would have felt utterly foreign last summer, when the City training ground was partly closed due to a Covid outbreak and the first team staying in Manchester for pre-season because of the ongoing safety concerns around the virus. With fans having been kept away from grounds for almost the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign, it still felt far from certain this time last year that they would be back for the new season.
Not that Covid has disappeared, but gradually over the course of the last year football has returned to normal: fans celebrated wildly together at the Etihad when City won the league, and packed into Deansgate the following day to see the players parade the title. Here again, the queues snaked around the stadium from the morning as thousands of fans queued in the growing heat for their chance to meet the new signings.
Ortega and Alvarez both talked themselves up, speaking of rising to the challenge of getting into the first team and - in the case of Alvarez - creating his own history as the latest in an established line of South Americans to play for the club. The real headliner, though, was Haaland.
If City fans weren't excited enough by his signing and the arrival of one of the biggest stars in the game, from the moment he entered the stage dancing along to City fans and chanting it was clear he had bought into being a Blue. Comments about looking forward to the derby the most further endeared himself to the crowd.
It was in the press conference room where Haaland really set himself apart as the box-office star that stands alone as the most eye-catching business City, and indeed anyone else, have done. Entering the room where journalists were assembled with a booming hello, he instantly held the room - whether he was answering questions or evading them.
There was the confidence to correct details about his past career, to accept moments where he had been "horrific" in training or where City had schooled him, as well as to suggest that he was already several chapters into the textbook of Guardiola's football to the point where he does not expect the transition to be an issue. (Not that anyone at the club thinks that either).
After 10 minutes or so of questions, he was done. "Good?" he asked. Everyone in and around the ground on Sunday certainly thought so.
READ NEXT
