Manchester City completed the signing of Erling Haaland for a reported £50 million in June, with the striker joining the Premier League champions on a five-year deal from Borussia Dortmund.
Haaland joins the Cityzens with an impressive scoring record in his career.
At Dortmund, the Norwegian international struck 86 goals in 89 appearances.
Haaland also scored 29 goals in 28 games for Red Bull Salzburg in 2019/20.
It is clear that Haaland is a top European talent, with some top online betting sites having Haaland as a potential Golden Boot winner this season.
If Pep Guardiola can get the best out of Haaland in the upcoming seasons, another spell of City dominance could take place in the Premier League.
Will Haaland Give Guardiola More Goals?
Even before Haaland’s signing, City scored plenty of goals.
Last season, City scored 99 goals as they won their fourth Premier League title in five seasons.
It was the greatest number of league goals scored by any team in Europe’s top five leagues.
But, for much of the season, the Cityzens played without a recognised striker.
Often, attacking players like Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus would play as withdrawn strikers.
Alternatively, Guardiola would not field any player in the striker’s role.
Instead, he selected his most attacking players to play out wide and cut in from the wing positions.
The tactical approach clearly paid off.
City had 16 different goal scorers in their title-winning season.
However, Guardiola’s side may have scored more and recorded a more comfortable title win with a clear striker.
City created 87 clear chances during the Premier League season.
Only runners-up Liverpool created more (97).
On their way to the title, City dominated teams with their attacking approach, beating Leeds 7-0 and Leicester 6-3, for example.
However, it was the cagier matches where Guardiola needed a player like Haaland to produce a more dominant victory.
For instance, 0-0 draws at Southampton and Crystal Palace allowed Liverpool to close the gap in the title race, which eventually went to a nervy final day of the season.
During the Palace and Southampton matches, City had 35 shots combined but they couldn’t score.
With a classic number 9 to provide an alternative option, City may have secured wins in these matches.
Similarly, in Europe, City often produces dominant performances under Guardiola, but the lack of a plan B has cost them.
In the semi-final defeat at Real Madrid, wasted chances cost City and allowed Los Blancos back into the match late on.
Midfielders Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez missed the best chances before Madrid’s comeback.
Haaland the Missing Piece for City?
Haaland is likely to provide the top-quality finishing that can take City up another level this season.
With creative players like Kevin de Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva creating several chances per match, Haaland should have plenty of opportunities to add to his tally.
In recent seasons, City have also approached other strikers to fill their gap in attack.
In the 2021/22 pre-season, the club were heavily linked with Tottenham’s Harry Kane.
Now, Guardiola appears to have got his key man in Haaland, which will give City an additional option upfront.
One of the only concerns for the Cityzens and Haaland will be injuries.
Last season, Haaland scored 22 goals and made seven assists in just 21 starts in the Bundesliga.
He was out for most of September and October and February with different injuries each time.
However, the 21-year-old striker has always come back strongly after an injury layoff to re-discover his momentum, which will give optimism for Guardiola and City.
