It seems like a lifetime ago when the transfer hype surrounding Manchester City was due to the arrival of Jack Grealish.
Fans from all clubs had been calling on Gareth Southgate to give Grealish more minutes at the European Championships. Despite a perceived lack of game time for England, the 26-year-old came out of the tournament as hot property.
Move forward a year and, as is common in football, the hype has firmly moved on — to Erling Haaland — while the conversation surrounding Grealish has entirely changed. Southgate is now being questioned for including the midfielder in his Nations League squad for the upcoming fixtures after a mediocre season at the Etihad.
ALSO READ: Erling Haaland breaks his silence on Man City transfer
Grealish has shown glimpses of his quality at City, but just six goals and four assists in 39 appearances is not setting the world alight unfortunately. Therefore, a chairman who splashed out such huge amounts on one player would be forgiven for questioning both the player and the recruitment department.
However, when breaking his silence on the signing of Grealish, Khaldoon Al Mubarak showed the sort of faith which seems to have been missing in football for many years (although not at Pep Guardiola's City).
"Jack is one of the most promising and one of the most exciting players in the world," Khaldoon told the club's official website.
" He came into this club, he is a hard worker, he is an incredible talent, Pep and the coaching staff are delighted with his work ethic and his numbers are good. He is on the right track and all of us know because of standard that we know he is going to deliver because we have high expectations.
"Let's watch his evolution. I think next season Jack will continue to improve and will be a very important player of this team."
If the City hierarchy are keen to remain faithful with Grealish, surely Haaland will receive the exact same treatment. Due to the 21-year-old's battles with injury at Borussia Dortmund this season, patience and faith could end up being the watch-words for Blues supporters.
Some of the best strikers in the world with brilliant goalscoring records have come to the Premier League and failed to hit the ground-running. Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku have both shown that at Chelsea.
Indications do currently point to Haaland breaking that mould, though. The Norwegian has strength, speed and a deadly finish to boot. His goal record is unrivalled.
With five years age difference between Haaland and Werner, City can afford the striker a year to acclimatize to his new surroundings. Opposition supporters from Liverpool to Nottingham Forest are likely to be preparing their voices this summer for chants of 'what a waste of money', if Haaland misplaces a pass or skews a shot wide.
But City have that self-belief in their stars that all well run clubs need. There will be no panic over Grealish or Haaland or whoever else is welcomed by Guardiola and his team this summer. Even if they take a little time to get going, the grander plan will dictate that they'll succeed eventually.
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