Manchester City’s move for Erling Haaland has reopened one of the weirder mistruths about Pep Guardiola. Former Bayern Munich and Liverpool defender Markus Babbel was the latest to air it this week, saying that Haaland should reject the Blues because Guardiola does not like strikers.
There are, of course, reasons why the Dortmund striker may not want to come with the allure of Real Madrid particularly difficult to turn down. It is also possible that somebody whose background includes Bayern and Liverpool may not see City as the ideal destination for one of the most exciting talents in world football.
What cannot be said, though, is that Guardiola does not like strikers. The evidence against is simply too strong.
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It is no secret that the manager has had issues with high-profile forwards during his career; he fell out spectacularly with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona and there was tension with Sergio Aguero at City. Guardiola has also made his love of midfielders clear, and pioneered the modern use of the false nine.
To stretch that to say Guardiola therefore doesn’t like strikers is to ignore one of the most fundamental of his principles: simplicity. Simplicity is behind so much of how the coach sets his team up, and what he asks of the players.
Possession football is favoured because the ball moves faster than people, and when they lose possession everyone has to run as hard as they can to quickly get it back. The simplest way to win football matches has always been and still is scoring goals.
That's why Lionel Messi was nurtured into a goalscoring phenomenon at Barcelona, that's why Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were tasked with setting up Robert Lewandowski at Bayern, and that's why the only real time Aguero spent out of the team at City was when Gabriel Jesus was consistently scoring goals.
Of course, City have had success without a recognised striker. But their reaction to last season was to try to sign a marquee forward, and their reaction to this season has been the same. Julian Alvarez has already been snapped up from River Plate and yet the Blues still want Haaland as their big signing for the summer.
You only have to listen to Guardiola on the Borussia Dortmund striker to hear how much he appreciates him. “To score that number of goals at his age is not easy," he said last year. "He’s 20 years old and the numbers speak for themselves. When that happens it’s because he can score with the right, the left, via counterattacks, in the box. He’s a fantastic striker, everyone knows it.”
If City are able to sign Haaland, even those still in the dark now would finally be able to see how much Guardiola likes strikers.
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