Manchester City are so good at football that the lack of jeopardy in most games can leave some not even wanting to watch. As an exasperated Virgil van Dijk said as Liverpool unsuccessfully tried to reel them in this season: "[City] are unstoppable. They score five each game. Every time you get hopeful they score five minutes later."
With four Premier League titles in the last five years, news that Pep Guardiola's side have added Erling Haaland to their squad for next season seems to tip the scales even more in their favour. Those that already think City are boring have aired their concerns and apathy over City signing one of the most exciting players in world football.
Those people are in the minority about City being boring and are even more in the minority about Haaland. Of all the examples that could be plucked, a trip back to Swindon in January this year helps to neatly illustrate this.
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Guardiola's team (or assistant coach Rodolfo Borrell's team, technically, owing to Covid) was good enough to win a Premier League game and thus far too strong for the League Two side. Bernardo Silva scored in the 14th minute to kill any hopes of an upset and City could afford to miss a penalty and still win 4-1.
Swindon fans remembering the game will care less about the expected defeat, however, and more about how they got to see a team of superstars - and watch their own players take the game to them and score against them. There was a buzz at the ground for hours before kick-off, hundreds queued up to heckle the City players getting off their team bus and thousands then roared the home side on in the game.
That may be the only time many of those present see a squad full of the world's best players at the County Ground, but fans of many Premier League clubs will still be looking forward to seeing such a talismanic prospect come up against their side. That has been seen this season with Cristiano Ronaldo's return, where his presence has increased the spectacle and led to reactions such as opposition players imitating his celebration.
Haaland's arrival makes it more satisfying than ever for teams to devise ways to beat City; Jurgen Klopp will relish the challenge rather than picking up his ball and going home because that is how the relationship with Liverpool has spurred the best out of both teams, just as the Blues have had to respond to the way Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz have improved their rivals.
And for the first time in absolutely ages, the Premier League can boast that it contains one of the most exciting players in the game on an upwards trajectory. As well as being the go-to destination for the best coaches, Haaland could tempt even more quality players to England.
His arrival does not mean that City will sweep all before them, because that is not how football works; it is a game played on grass rather than paper and the dramatic events of the final day of this season show again that no outcomes can be guaranteed.
As long as that remains the case, unless you don't like watching football matches or have grown blasé about seeing superstars, it is impossible not to be excited at the thought of seeing Haaland test himself in England.
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