Manchester City fans have been waiting patiently to find out which squad number Erling Haaland will have at the club — and the £51m signing appears to have let the cat out of the bag.
A video has surfaced online of Haaland holding up a City shirt — complete with his name and the number nine — while posing for a photograph with a supporter on holiday in Marbella. The No.9 is now vacant at City following Gabriel Jesus' £45m move to Arsenal.
Haaland was officially unveiled as a City player last month after months of speculation and a drawn-out transfer battle fought with Real Madrid. The 21-year-old, of course, posed for plenty of photos while wearing the City kit, but his squad number was not revealed.
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The working theory was that the delay in assigning Haaland a number was due to the Jesus transfer, as City would not have wanted to disrespect the Brazilian by giving away his number before he had officially left. Now that he has departed, it makes sense that Haaland will assume the number.
The No.9 is one that the Norwegian goal-scorer is familiar with. After taking the No.17 shirt upon arriving at Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, Haaland switched to nine for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns, reflecting his position as the team's undisputed first-choice forward.
While City have not officially confirmed Haaland's squad number, it now seems clear that he will be City's new No.9 in shirt number as well as position.
Haaland's arrival ends City's two-year hunt for an elite striker, after moves for Harry Kane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fell through. The front-man, who scored an incredible 83 goals in 87 games for Borussia Dortmund, will be presented to City fans at the Etihad stadium on Sunday at approximately 2pm along with fellow new signings Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega Moreno.
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