Champions League
Phenomenal Haaland! The Norwegian goal machine has the football world going crazy. Check out his Manchester City achievements
When Erling Haaland came to Manchester City, almost all football fans expected a lot. The English big club brought in the Norwegian goalkeeper from Borussia Dortmund last July for the sum of 60 million euros. And what Haaland has shown not only in the Premier League in his first season is simply something not normally seen.
When Erling Haaland came to Manchester City, almost all football fans expected a lot. The English big club brought in the Norwegian goalkeeper from Borussia Dortmund last July for the sum of 60 million euros. And what Haaland has shown not only in the Premier League in his first season is simply something not normally seen.
In retrospect, looking back at what the Manchester native has already accomplished in his first season in Manchester, the transfer sum seems ridiculous by today’s standards.
In any case, Pepe Guardiola knew very well why he was bringing the Norwegian international to the Etihad Stadium. After all, the pure statistics speak for themselves.
Haaland played 89 competitive games during his time at Dortmund, i.e. from January 2020 to the aforementioned July 2022.
He scored an impressive 86 goals, plus assisted 23 more. So it was indeed clear that Borussia would not keep him for long.
In fact, as Haaland said in an earlier interview, the move to Manchester City was more than a clear decision thanks to a lifelong supporter. And now, at the end of the 2022/23 season, we can say unequivocally that he couldn’t have done better.
The only 22-year-old Norwegian has already scored two goals in his Premier League debut, with his first hat-trick coming in Round 4 against Crystal Palace. Moreover, he added another hat-trick in the very next round when the Citizens blasted Nottingham 6-0.
The incredible Haaland
And to make matters worse, he scored his third hat-trick of the season in the ninth round in a 6-3 win over city rivals Manchester United. He added two assists on top of that.
Haaland as the rightful king of Manchester? Without a doubt. Acclimatisation? Very quick, if the Leeds native needed one. The Citizens striker flew into the Premier League like a rip off the chain.
A brutal goal-killer, one might say, with a bit of exaggeration. He added his fourth hat-trick in the last league season in the 21st round, when he beat Wolves 3-0 with his goals. He added his fifth overall in the FA Cup quarter-final against Burnley (6:0).
And since he was getting bored of scoring hat-tricks after a while, he sent five balls into the Leipzig net in the Champions League eighth-final in a 7:0 win.
In his first season with Manchester City, Haaland played 53 games and scored an incredible 52 goals. He then divided his goal tally as follows – 36 goals in the Premier League, 12 in the Champions League, three in the FA Cup and one in the EFL Cup.
He was top scorer in the English top flight, top scorer in the Champions League and player of the year.
In terms of team achievements, Haaland won a treble in his first season with Manchester City. And thus winning the Champions League, the FA Cup and also celebrated winning the Premier League title.
Sources: Premier League, Transfermarkt, Twitter – ESPN