"I promise you it's a football decision. It's not a marketing or celebrity decision."
It feels strange that Manchester City are having to justify the signing of the best young striker in the world, but here we are. This week, CEO Ferran Soriano gave a detailed defence of how City will use Erling Haaland next season, twice insisting his commercial pull were not considered in the signing.
Haaland will, of course, give City a genuine superstar, and with that comes the marketing opportunities Soriano references, but it's the chief's hint at Pep Guardiola's new tactics that should excite fans.
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Speaking to the Dr Football Podcast, Soriano said: "I have to say we are very excited, But I want to tell you honestly, that all the football additions or signing additions are taken through a football lens, not a marketing lens or celebrity lens.
"So we think Txiki [Begiristain] and Pep and the whole group, they think very carefully about the players that they need for the team and this is what they sign.
"In this case, it happens to be Haaland's profile, I think you're right that he's developed his profile as a superstar, but this is not the reason we signed him. We signed him because we think that he's going to score a lot of goals and he has the intelligence to adapt to our system. The system is very complex."
City said previously that Haaland will have to adapt to their system rather than the rest of the squad adapting to the new signing, although Soriano went on to hint at some changes in the way City will play next season.
He continued: "If you see the intensity in the way that they discuss how they're going to play, it's very sophisticated. You need to be a very sophisticated player to be able to adapt to this, and we think Haaland will do. But I promise you it's a football decision. It's not a marketing or celebrity decision."
Anyone who has seen Haaland kick a ball will be able to see the footballing merits in signing him, with his personality and 'brand' an added bonus if City want to tap into it.
And anyone who has seen City play in the last two years will accept that there will need to be some re-adaption to playing with a genuine striker. For Soriano to discuss 'the way they're going to play' suggests that style has been decided upon and there will be some re-calibration going on throughout the squad.
City and Haaland should be a match made in heaven, so it's reassuring for Blues fans to hear that while Haaland will have to learn a new style - it's likely to be a style designed to get the best out of him.
And that's got nothing to do with marketing.
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