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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Alex Brotherton

Sergio Aguero makes Erling Haaland admission after Man City forward's Virgil van Dijk battle

Sergio Aguero has claimed Erling Haaland will need time to adapt to Manchester City and English football as he is "too used to Germany".

Haaland endured a frustrating afternoon as City fell 3-1 to Liverpool in Saturday's Community Shield clash, the first big test since his £51m move from Borussia Dortmund. The 22-year-old and his new teammates didn't really click as a number of brilliant runs made by the striker went unserved.

On the other hand, Haaland completed just seven passes over 90 minutes, a figure that is just not acceptable in a Pep Guardiola team. Haaland played a key role in the move that saw Julian Alvarez score City's equaliser, but a late miss from a few yards out ultimately made it a day to forget for the Norwegian attacker.

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One man who knows better than most how difficult it is to play for City and succeed in England is Aguero, the Blues' all-time record goalscorer and scorer of the most famous goal in the club's history. While streaming on Twitch after Saturday's game, Aguero indicated that Haaland will need time to adapt, citing the physicality and quality of defenders in the Premier League.

"He was too used to Germany," Aguero said. "Haaland thought he was alone, then Virgil van Dijk arrived and said, 'welcome to the Premier League'."

It may be a little harsh to judge Haaland based on one game against an opponent as tough as Liverpool, but Aguero is right that Haaland should be afforded time to adapt and settle in. There's no doubting that once he's done that he will score plenty of goals for Guardiola's side.

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