Manchester City completed the signing of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland earlier this month for £51million.
The Norwegian striker, one of the best currently in world football, completed a deal on May 11 and has this week had his first day at his new club in the aftermath of Man City’s Premier League title win.
GOAL have detailed an inside look into Haaland’s first day at the Etihad Campus on Tuesday following City’s open top bus parade and title celebrations through Manchester on Monday afternoon. As the dust settled and the celebrations died down after sealing their sixth Premier League crown in ten years, Haaland arrived ready to begin life at the club.
The report states that Haaland flew into Manchester on Tuesday to meet members of staff at his new club. Prior to doing so, Haaland went via Barcelona for a consultation with Dr Ramon Cugat following the Norwegian’s issues last term that saw him miss almost a third of Dortmund’s league games this season, still managing to finish as the Bundesliga’s third top scorer last term.
Dr Cugat is City’s trustworthy medical expert who in recent years has worked alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany in the past.
The report then claims that after seeing Dr Cugat, Haaland and his father and former City player Alf-Inge Haaland, flew to Manchester. In the past second, Haaland junior and senior have regularly attended the Etihad Stadium for big matches and their family connection led to Haaland signing for them.
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The Haalands then reportedly visited Catalan restaurant Tast in Manchester, that is backed by Guardiola, with a tour of City’s facilities set to have taken place on Wednesday.
Haaland’s exit from Dortmund marks the end of two and a half years in Germany, having signed for them from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020 for £17million.
While at Dortmund, Haaland scored 86 times in 89 appearances in all competitions, including a record of 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga outings at a rate of a goal every 87 minutes.
In the Champions League, Haaland’s record is even better, averaging over a goal a game both with Salzburg and Dortmund in Europe’s elite club competition. Haaland has a career return of 23 goals in 19 Champions League, averaging a goal ever 63.6 minutes in the Champions League.
Haaland is not the only forward set to add further fire power to City’s front line next term. In January, City signed River Plate’s Julian Alvarez for £14.1million, with Alvarez returning to Argentina on loan before linking up with the Sky Blues in the summer.
On Wednesday night, Alvarez scored six goals for River Plate during an 8-1 win in the Copa Libertadores, becoming the first player in River Plate history to score six goals in a single game.
