At first glance, the prospect sounds terrifying. Here is Manchester City, a glorious, creative team that occasionally struggles to take its chances, and here is Erling Haaland, a physically immense 21-year-old who over the last four seasons has averaged more than a goal per league start. Put them together and how could he not make City better? How could he not increase its goals output even further and perhaps, at last, bring the Champions League glory the club so desperately desires?
And that might happen. It has escaped nobody’s attention that City had had nine shots on target to Real Madrid’s none in the first 90 minutes at the Bernabéu in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals last week but led only 1–0. If only one other chance had gone in, surely that would have been too much even for this Madrid side to overcome. Similarly, it dominated the first leg far more than the 4–3 final scoreline suggested.
Haaland is an extraordinary footballer, a physical monster who fortuitously did not gain that sort of bulk until he was in his mid-teens, meaning he also has an acute awareness of how to move and create space. He can batter opponents out of the way, but his game is a lot more subtle than that. He managed the transition from Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund well, and he has thrived in the Champions League, suggesting a capacity to learn—although the Premier League represents a bigger change of style than shifting from Austria to Germany, and will impose more consistent physical demands. If there’s a knock on Haaland, it’s his propensity to take a knock: He has missed 31 games through injury in two seasons at Dortmund.
