When Manchester City was not yet a rich club, financed by the billions of a sheikh from Abu Dhabi, but a workers’ club with many fans, just with no prospect of a title, a Haaland played there before. Alf-Inge Haaland played for City from 2000 to 2003, he was a defensive midfielder, not for the spectacle.
Memories of his work have long since faded outside of Manchester, as have City as one club among many.
Nineteen years later, the story about Manchester City and the Haaland name is expanded by a chapter. It will almost certainly be one that talks about goals and about titles. On Tuesday (May 10th, 2022) the club announced that they had reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund on a transfer from Erling Haaland. Only the contract signature is still missing.
Erling Haaland – like dad once did
Erling Haaland, 21, you guessed it, is the son of Alf-Inge Haaland, 49. There may still be some Manchester City fans who are open to this kind of sentimentality. It will be more of a side note for the club. They had other reasons for trying to find the still very young Erling Haaland.
When Haaland switched from RB Salzburg to BVB two and a half years ago, they were looking forward to an attacker in Dortmund who stood for goals, for speed and for a certain physical power. One that was so young and at the same time so talented that it promised an increase in value. You were not disappointed.
Haaland and BVB – a success story
That with Haaland and BVB became a success story. He scored 61 goals in 66 Bundesliga games, the numbers speak for themselves. It wasn’t enough for the championship, it just wasn’t up to Haaland. After all, Haaland and Dortmund once won the cup together. The increase in value also worked.
BVB has not published figures, the transfer has not yet been confirmed. But you can already predict that they will soon be able to look forward to a nice sum in their account in Dortmund. That a number will appear in the balance sheets that will be many times higher than the transfer fee once paid to Salzburg.
Haaland to Man City – no surprise, but somehow
If it was all about potential, if money was no object, then Haaland would have had a free choice when choosing his new employer. They would probably all have liked Haaland, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, possibly Bayern too, but there was always something. FC Barcelona has debts, very high debts. Real Madrid have Karim Benzema, Bayern have Robert Lewandowski.
It then became Manchester City, which isn’t really a surprise and then somehow it did.
In Manchester they have the money, they don’t have an attacker of Haaland’s caliber. The coach Pep Guardiola was reportedly depressed, it is said that he sometimes sorely missed such a center forward in his team. Fitting that narrative, City did much to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham last summer. It just didn’t work.
So Guardiola played in a 4-3-3 without a real centre-forward again this season, at least in the crucial games. Gabriel Jesus, 25, is the only central attacker in Guardiola’s squad, he’s good at it, but he doesn’t have the class of Kane or Haaland.
Now Guardiola gets Haaland – and is facing the next challenge.
Attention, the depth runs
Of course you can admire Haaland for his goals, sometimes they look very easy and sometimes spectacular. You can praise his speed, which is also exceptional. But if you do him an injustice, you just reduce him to that. Because there is another quality that is difficult to recognize and yet so important: Haaland can run in depth like hardly any other player.
It’s worth taking a look at. How Haaland seeks eye contact with the ball-carrying teammate. How he studies his opponent’s movements. How he moves into spaces that are behind the defender. How he then sprints – and can hardly be caught.
The footballer Haaland thinks vertically, he needs space for his game. Only Manchester City rarely gets it. And passes to the back of the defense, like Haaland loves, are not necessarily intended for Guardiola.
So the question arises: Haaland and Guardiola man city – does that fit?
Haaland’s new coach Guardiola – one for fine tuning
Haaland is certainly not a typical Guardiola player, just the size. But you can imagine that Haaland could become someone who could refine Manchester City’s game. Precisely because he’s a type of player that City doesn’t have in their squad yet. The determination to finish, the speed, the deep runs – these are strengths that the club could benefit from.
So Guardiola will do what he’s always done – even if that sometimes got lost. He will ponder, tinker, change little things. It’s easy to overlook: Today’s Manchester City isn’t a double for Guardiola’s Barcelona, it doesn’t play like Guardiola’s Bayern either, not even like Manchester City last year. Even someone like Guardiola is learning.
Haaland has made an impressive development during his time at BVB, now it’s time for fine-tuning. And Guardiola can do fine tuning, he has proven that many times. Passing games, games without the ball, movements – Haaland has to improve everywhere. Guardiola will tell him how to do it.
On the day that Manchester City announced the agreement in principle with Haaland and BVB, the “Guardians“The upcoming change. It’s a transfer that “undeniably inappropriate” working, wrote the newspaper. But that doesn’t have to be a bad idea with Haaland and Man City, you shouldn’t underestimate the role of the coach. “Guardiola is a great manager who will work like mad to make it fit.”