Will Erling Haaland start off with a bang in the Premier League?
For every football fan who’s been living under a rock, the superstar striker Erling Braut Haaland made his move to Manchester City for a fee of 51 million (release clause) euros (ESPN). Manchester City are expecting to pay about 85.5 million euros in total including agent fees, signing bonus and other accounted costs. Now, many people who don’t regularly watch football may think that’s a very hefty price for a footballer, but this deal is actually considered a bargain due to the fact that Haaland’s market valuation was $150 million. But why is Erling Haaland so highly rated? Well, to understand the level of quality, technical ability and finishing he possesses, we have to look at his statistics in his previous clubs.
Let’s observe his stats in the Austrian Bundesliga (Red Bull Salzburg), the Champions League (BVB Dortmund), and the Bundesliga (BVB Dortmund). For RB Salzburg, he had a total of 17 goals and 6 assists in 16 games, winning 2 league titles and one Austrian Cup (Transfermarkt). He made his move to BVB Dortmund in December 2019, obtaining a fantastic 59 goals and 15 assists in just 65 games. His individual awards include winning the Golden Boy, the Champions League top scorer, the U-20 World Cup Golden boot and the Bundesliga Player of the 2020–21 season.
After taking a look at his goal contributions, awards and impact for his respective teams, it should be a no-brainer that Haaland would absolutely kill it in the Premier League. Yet, why are there so many people who think that he may “flop” or not smash in goals like he used to? Well, in my opinion, there seem to be four main reasons.
- Level of competition in the Bundesliga vs the Premier League
- Adapting to Manchester City’s false nine system
- Struggle of previous signings from the Bundesliga
- Haaland’s grapple with injuries in the past
Let’s start off with the first one. As the footballing world knows, the Premier League is the toughest and most competitive league at the moment, beating La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga to the spot. But why is it the toughest? Well, there are several reasons why. Financial power, physical demand, and depth of competition are some of those factors. Several Prem teams have far higher spending power than teams from other leagues, making it easier to sign top names from all around the world. The physical demand is created via the added strength and aggression of players, which creates far more fatigue in players from the Prem in comparison to other leagues. Due to there not being a winter break, it adds to the physical and mental strain on the players. The last one, and probably one of the most important reasons, is the depth of competition. This is correlated with financial power, making many teams in the Premier League competitive enough to give the big teams a fight for the top.
Coming back to Haaland’s predicted performance in the Prem, his goal contributions are predicted by many to drop due to the existence of the “Bundesliga Tax”. The “Bundesliga Tax” is a concept which means that since the Bundesliga is an easier competition to score and assist in, there should be a certain made-up reduction to match a plausible amount of G/A in the Premier League. This may or may not come to fruition, as he could end up scoring more in the Premier League than he did in the Bundesliga.
The second reason is his adaptability to City’s false nine system. City haven’t had an out and out forward since Aguero and they have been struggling to maintain a standard, consistent striker upfront. “Gabriel Jesus prefers it out wide where he can find space. Jack Grealish’s least convincing performances have come in the middle. Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling have fared rather better at times but still look happier out wide, as illustrated by the fact that Guardiola has even pressed Bernardo Silva into action there.” (Sky Sports). City tend to have players on the wings who linkup play, so “It’ll be interesting to see how they play because you’ve got to feed him, but I don’t think they’ll be able to play the way they used to play because the more direct you play, the more goals he’ll probably get you.” (TalkSport)
Recent signings from the Bundesliga have struggled to make an impact in the Premier League, which has seeded doubt in the minds of prem viewers about Haaland’s probable influence. Examples of such signings are Werner, Havertz, and Sancho. “When Manchester United brought Jadon Sancho in from Germany they must have thought he would guarantee them goals as well. Sancho absolutely ripped it up in the Bundesliga but has struggled over here. It’s hard. It’s a totally different league. Kai Havertz found it tough to begin with as well. He was sensational in Germany, but has only recently started looking good here in the last few months.” Werner was another superstar in the Bundesliga who has failed to hit the mark yet in the Premier League. All these players still have a lot of time on their hands, but this is just past evidence which makes people think that Haaland might not be as good as he was.
The final reason, which is one that has affected Haaland extensively and isn’t a suspected or predicted obstacle, is that of injuries. “Prior to the 2021–22 season, the worst of his injuries was a hamstring tear in December 2020, which kept him out for four games, and he returned to complete the season with no recurrence of the injury. Last season, a torn hip flexor kept him on the sidelines for a month. He returned, only to suffer a ‘muscle injury’, reported to be to his adductor (a muscle on the inner thigh), that kept him out for a further four weeks.”(The Athletic).
However, due to City’s squad depth, Haaland will get more rest time than he did with Dortmund, where “when he was able to walk [after returning from injury], Dortmund pretty much threw him in. It always felt a bit rushed. Obviously, if you have a player of this calibre and you are struggling for whatever reason, then you want him on the field.”(Stefan Buczko, Yellowwallpod Podcast). Also, “He’s going to a club where they do seem to rotate the players and have been successful with that.”
Mark Leather, a senior lecturer in sports medicine and therapy who spent more than 10 years working in the Premier League, said that “You’re with a team that keeps the ball for longer periods of time, so maybe it’s not so much the case that he’ll have to work as hard as he might have done at Dortmund.”
Regardless of the doubts, City have found themselves an absolute gem of a player, prising him away from Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and several other clubs. We are yet to watch the terminator play for Manchester City, but based on his rampage in every single competition, add him to your FPL team and pray to God that he doesn’t tear apart your beloved team’s backline.
Bibliography:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-city-haaland-lukaku-chelsea-26772255
https://www.transfermarkt.co.in/erlinghaaland/leistungsdaten/spieler/418560
