Manchester City are desperate to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer after turning their attentions away from Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, but Markus Babbel doesn’t believe it would be a good move for the 21-year-old as Pep Guardiola ‘doesn’t like’ natural strikers.
The 49-year-old, who had a 17-year playing career and 13-year managerial career, said Haaland joining City would ‘irritate’ him as Guardiola doesn’t treat centre-forwards correctly. Babbel pointed to how Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus didn’t always command a starting place and were often swapped for games.
He told Sky Sports Germany (h/t Sport Witness): “This move would really surprise and irritate me. Guardiola doesn’t really like centre forwards. I would rather say that he should stay in Dortmund. He could develop better there because Haaland also has to play. Whether that would be the case with Guardiola, I don’t know.”
After releasing Sergio Aguero last summer, Jesus is the only natural striker Man City have in the first-team and he’s started only 19 of their 44 games across the board (43%). The 24-year-old has amassed only 108 minutes of Premier League football in 2022 and is unhappy due to the lack of regular opportunities.
Guardiola has played much of the season without a recognised striker, using a combination of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling in attack.
But with no player scoring more than 10 league goals by March, Guardiola wants one of the best young strikers in the continent in Haaland. The 21-year-old has made 82 appearances in all competitions, scoring 80 goals with 21 assists. He’ll be available for £62.3m this summer and City have the resources to match the release clause and lofty wage demands.
But Babbel added: “In the past, everyone played the centre forward position there, but no trained striker. Even top strikers like Agüero or Jesus didn’t play with regularity at City. I think the striker Guardiola wants has yet to be born. In addition, City play in an extremely dominant manner. Haaland still has to learn that, even in such a team that has little space, to play out his dynamism and find the ways to score his goals.”
Despite Babbel’s irritation, it does seem a tried and tested striker will be coming to the Etihad. Julian Alvarez has been signed from River Plate but may not be ready for a starting place next season.