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It didn’t take long for Erling Haaland to make his presence felt at Manchester City.
Fresh off a move from Borussia Dortmund, the 22-year-old striker wasted no time getting on the scoresheet in his first match with City, a preseason friendly against Bayern Munich at Lambeau Field. In the 12th minute, winger Jack Grealish slipped in behind the Bayern defense and played a cross into Haaland. All it took was a simple tap-in for the Norwegian phenom to notch his first goal with his new club.
Haaland was one of this summer’s most coveted transfer targets after he put up staggering numbers in three years in the German Bundesliga. He scored 86 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund. And as the competition grew, he quite often rose to the occasion, putting away 23 goals in just 19 UEFA Champions League appearances.
After longtime striker Sergio Agüero left Manchester last summer, City had trouble finding a consistent presence at No. 9. Gabriel Jesus struggled to find a consistent role and scored just eight Premier League goals last season, while midfielder Kevin De Bruyne led the way with 15. Haaland will be expected to replace the production of Jesus, who left on a $54-million transfer to Arsenal, as well as winger Raheem Sterling, whose move to Chelsea was completed several weeks ago.
It’s not quite a cold, rainy night in Stoke, but Haaland is off to a near-perfect start on a rainy evening in Green Bay.
