The expectations for Erling Haaland at Manchester City are so high it’s easy to forget just how young he is. The Norwegian sensation has emerged as one of the world’s best players, and certainly one of football’s deadliest strikers.
Such is his talent that the continent’s top sides were all vying for his services earlier this year – and he’s still only 21. At such a young age there would usually still be some question marks over a player.
Not for Haaland though, who is being tipped to take the Premier League by storm after transitioning effortlessly to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, having first caught the eye at RB Salzburg.
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Having now completed his move to the Etihad, he has the chance to forge a relationship with Pep Guardiola akin to the one the City boss had with arguably the greatest player of all time. And the former Barcelona boss knows Haaland is the key to City finally getting their hands on that elusive Champions League trophy.
Guardiola, of course, knows what it takes to lift European football’s greatest prize, having done so twice during his time in charge at the Nou Camp. It’s therefore something of a mystery as to how he hasn’t repeated the feat at City, or at Bayern Munich for that matter.
There was one key ingredient at Barcelona though – Lionel Messi. And Guardiola knew even during the Argentine’s early days at the club that he would lead the Catalan giants to European glory.
Speaking to Catalunya Radio back in 2019, he said: “I had already been told by someone from the squad that there was a very good player in the squad. They told me that he [Messi] was very young but scored many goals and he was very good.
“I did not know him and one day I saw him and his father at a Nike store. I saw him, he looked small and shy and I thought: ‘Is this one as good as they say?’
“We started pre-season in Scotland, we won 6-1, 5-0 and he would score three goals a game for you. I thought that, with him, we would win everything.”
In Haaland, Guardiola now has one of the potential successors to Messi’s crown as the world’s best player. It’s no coincidence that the Norwegian and Kylian Mbappe are being touted as the next great rivalry, following on from Messi vs Ronaldo.
Haaland has already shown the sort of quality that outlined Messi as a superstar of the future back in those early days at the Nou Camp. Under Guardiola’s tutelage, he then took Barcelona to new heights.
City now have that same X factor. Over the past couple of seasons, they’ve been left to rue their missed chances as they’ve let the Champions League slip through their grasp – even in scoring four in the first leg of their semi-final against Real Madrid this year, they were left reflecting on an opportunity missed in putting the tie to bed.
With Haaland though, they now have the player to ensure those same chances aren’t wasted. And Guardiola might just have his new Messi.
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