Erling Haaland has been a Manchester City player since mid-June and has finally got off the mark in a pre-season friendly. The 22-year-old scored the winning goal in City’s 1-0 win over Bayern Munich on July 24 and was praised by Paul Robinson for being a ‘confident’ player who can lead the Sky Blues to success.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th or lower
He told Football Insider: “Haaland is a very confident character. He leads from the front. His confidence will be tested if he doesn’t score goals though. If he scores goals and has a season like expected, that confidence will spread through the dressing room.
“There is a fine line from confidence to arrogance and he has to keep it as confidence. I’m sure he’ll be able to do that. Haaland looks to have settled in very well. I watched the Troy Hawke video on Man City socials and there looks to be a good spirit in the camp. All seems to be well at City.”
Haaland scored 85 goals with 22 assists from 88 games at Borussia Dortmund (2020 – 2022), so he’s expected to hit the ground running at City. And with the Premier League defending champions scoring 99 goals from 38 games while having 713 shots (18.8 per game) last season, Haaland should enjoy playing under Pep Guardiola.
The 22-year-old’s debut goal was a tap-in from close range after City carved through Bayern and cut the ball back from out wide, so Haaland can expect more chances on a plate like that. And if he can produce individual quality when called upon, City will be in for a trophy-laden campaign.
He’s an improvement on Gabriel Jesus while Jack Grealish and Phil Foden should be able to replace Raheem Sterling’s goals.
In other news, Josh Wilson-Esbrand could join Man City first-team after impressing in pre-season