MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City are set to make a splash this summer, with Borussia Dortmund goal machine Erling Haaland reportedly on the verge of moving to the Etihad Stadium.
The Premier League champs have been without a natural No9 since Sergio Aguero left the club at the end of last season — and his successor is likely to be one of the hottest talents in world football.
As City’s quest for a fourth domestic title in five years under Pep Guardiola continues this afternoon against Watford, we consider what the future could look like with Haaland in sky blue.
The missing piece?
City may be on course to retain their Premier League crown but they are still a team with something missing.
Even as they cruised to the title last term, that was the case.
Sergio Aguero was out injured for the bulk of that campaign, so the club have really missed an out-and-out striker for the best part of two seasons.
Given how well they have coped — scoring a league-high 83 goals last term and 75 so far this time around — you may question whether they even need Haaland.
But we are not talking about simply coping here, this is about the Citizens taking things to yet another level.
Worth the wait
Guardiola has been open in his belief that City need a centre forward.
Speaking prior to last month’s derby victory over Manchester United, he said: “I think the club definitely needs a striker.
“We tried, but sometimes it’s not possible. We are not going to buy one for a number if they’re not going to give us something special.
“We need a striker and I think the club is going to try. If it happens, it happens, but if it doesn’t, we’ll wait.”
If recent reports are to be believed, that wait could almost be over — and on the evidence of 21-year-old Haaland’s career so far, it will have been more than worth it.
Back to basics
In developing his era-defining Barcelona side, Guardiola did away with the notion of a traditional centre forward, instead converting Lionel Messi into a false nine — and we all know what happened next.
This season, Guardiola has deployed the likes of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish — none of whom anyone would have considered suitable for a striker role under any other coach — in a similar capacity, to particularly good effect in the case of Foden.
But as his success with Aguero at City and Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich shows, Guardiola’s penchant for the unconventional has not made him incompatible with more classic centre forwards.
The thought of what he could do with Haaland is both tantalising and terrifying in equal measure.
Slotting in
If you sign for City, you know you are going to have to adapt to Guardiola’s methods. No matter how much of a superstar you may be, he is not going to build the team around you.
And that would represent something of a dynamic shift for Haaland, who has been the undisputed main man in Dortmund’s attack since the departure of Jadon Sancho last summer.
Then again, in a goalscoring sense, the Norwegian has held that status from the moment he arrived from FC Salzburg in January 2020 — firing home a 23-minute hat-trick on his debut for the Black and Yellows.
For Haaland, City’s patient approach may feel alien at first when compared to the borderline chaos of Marco Rose’s BVB side.
But it should not take a player of his footballing intelligence long to get on the same wavelength.
And the rest…
As much as they are currently short of a bona fide No9, City do possess an embarrassment of riches up front.
Clearly, adding Haaland to the mix will just further increase competition for places — and Guardiola’s rotation policy can only keep everyone happy up to a point.
If the rumoured move does come to fruition, something will have to give.
That could mean City are content to offload the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling — both of whom will only have a year left on their contracts come June.
