Manchester City have made the first big move of the summer transfer window by tying up Erling Haaland’s move from Borussia Dortmund for a reported £51m and many are predicting next season’s Premier League title should already be wrapped in blue ribbons.
City have wrapped up the Norwegian strike sensation’s transfer in principle, and some say the 21-year-old could fire City to an elusive Champions League title, and if you agree you can try and make a small profit on it at Bookmaker-Ratings.
Pep Guardiola currently boasts the cream of Europe’s talent which he has steered to the semi-finals and final of this and last season’s Champions League respectively, and the Spaniard will hope Halaand will take his team that step further to European glory, which City have outlined as paramount in their immediate plans.
The absence of an out-and-out goalscorer was cited as City’s downfall in their failed 2021 final attempt against rivals Chelsea and Haaland will join a star-laden forward line of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez with the expectation of filling exactly that role among City’s front men.
Champions City currently sit atop the Premier League pile ahead of Liverpool on goal difference despite being level on points but with a game in hand over the Merseyside club, with just three games for the Etihad outfit left to play.
Although this season City have been run to the wire by Liverpool, many think the signing of Haaland will mean next season there will be no such close title run in and the league will firmly be a one-horse race.
Domestic glory has never been in short supply at City, who boast five league titles and two FA Cup wins in the past decade, whereas they seem to be the perennial winners of the League Cup, winning six since 2012.
However, success in Europe is what owner Sheikh Mansour and City Football Group have made top priority, seeing it as the next logical step to cementing their place among Europe’s elite clubs and the signing
The club crashed out of the Champions League after a brilliant display from a Karim Benzema-inspired Real Madrid powered them into the final and many believed Haaland would have been the difference on the night should he have been in the side.
Haaland will also create a family double when linking up with Guardiola and co. after his father Alf Inge captained City in the early 2000s, famously being on the wrong end of a certain Roy Keane tackle in the Manchester derby in 2001.
However, Haaland is admittedly a fan of fellow Premier League team Leeds United, for whom his dad also played before joining the Citizens in 2000 and has even expressed a desire to play for the Elland Road outfit at the tailend of his career.
City will be hoping Haaland fairs better than £100m signing Jack Grealish, who hasn’t exactly set the world alight in his first season with the club despite becoming the most expensive English player ever upon completing his move last summer, with the club rumoured to be considering selling their number 10.
In April Haaland lost his agent and advisor Mino Raiola, the Italian-born Dutchman who had brokered deals for Paul Pogba and was involved in protracted discussions between Haaland and a number of top European clubs, including Manchester United.
