Erling Haaland wasted little time in winning over his new Manchester City fans!
Thousands gathered outside the Etihad Stadium to see the new £51.4 million signing, who has committed to stay for “at least” five years, announced ahead of his first day of training on Monday.
And the son of former Manchester City captain Alfie, who has supported the club his entire life, said all the right things.
When asked which game he was most looking forward to, he claimed he couldn’t bring himself to reply ‘Manchester United.’
The 22-year-old also disclosed that he owns a number of shirts with the name of the club’s all-time leading striker, Sergio Aguero.
He has been watching and admiring Pep Guardiola’s brilliant team from afar in recent years and now he can’t wait to be part of it.
He only remembers going for roughly 25 minutes without touching the ball when he played at the Etihad with former club Borussia Dortmund 18 months ago.
Haaland had the option of moving to Spain this summer, but he believed this was the best place for him.
He said: “I’ve watched City ever since Pep Guardiola took over in 2016 so I know exactly how they play.
“I played against them in Champions League last year.
“You see something on TV and then when you meet it is completely different.
“I didn’t touch the ball for 25 minutes and it is like ‘Gundogan please stop playing tiki-taka’.
“It is a different level how they play and that is what I want to be a part of. I just had that feeling I wanted to play for City.”
Haaland’s dad played a big role in persuading him to join City and has clearly taught him well.
Asked about the fixture he was relishing the most, he delighted the crowd by saying: “I don’t like to say the words….Manchester United.”
He revealed he has a collection of AGUERO 10 shirts at home and said: “Of course I admired him, he is a legend, one of the best ever to play in the Premier League.
“I remember a lot of goals he scored especially the 93.20 goal against QPR – but there were a lot.”
And talking about the famous photo of him in his City shirt as a youngster, he said: “That was a really nice picture, I like it a lot, it was my father who took the picture of me.
“But it is nice to be here, I was born in England, I lived here for four years and then I moved to Norway, so it is a good feeling.”
He joins City as one of the game’s brightest young prospects, having already scored 113 goals in 156 league outings.
The concern for English defenders is that he believes he can improve under new manager Guardiola!
