Erling Haaland – despite being heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge – ended up preferring Manchester City’s shade of blue and is the newest grand addition to the Etihad club.
Haaland offered his explanation why he snubbed Chelsea for Manchester City this summer, as Pep Guardiola pulled off his grand coup of scuttling Thomas Tuchel’s dream signing. The west Londoners were prime among several top-flight sides keen to sign the former Borussia Dortmund striker, although several factors mitigated against them.
The 21-year-old was presented to City fans after swapping the Signal Iduna Park for the Etihad, along with Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega. During the presentation, Haaland elaborated on his decision to join his father’s former club, claiming notably that Guardiola’s philosophy was key in courting his attention.
Citing Dortmund’s clash with City in the Champions League quarter-final last season, the Norway international said, according to the Manchester Evening News: “I played against them in the Champions League last year. You see them on TV and when you meet it’s completely different.
“I didn’t touch the ball for 25 minutes. ‘Please Ilkay Guendogan, stop playing tiki-taka!’ It’s a different level how they approach the game, create chances. That’s what I wanted to be a part of.”
Since hitting the spotlight at Dortmund, the young Norwegian sensation rapidly evolved into one of the continent’s most highly-rated and most sought-after strikers. It wasn’t long after the ink had dried on a contract that confirmed his £17m switch from Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, that big moves were already being machinated by the Norwegian’s representatives for their client, according to ESPN.
The report claims that in April 2021, Mino Raiola — who has since passed on earlier this year following illness — and father Alfie-Inge Haaland visited Real Madrid and Barcelona over a potential transfer. Throwing their hands into the raffle arlier this year, ESPN reports that Chelsea and Bayern Munich also signaled their interest, but it was the Guardiola and his Sky Blues who finally swept the youngster off his feet.
Surprisingly, however, Tuchel’s side had harbored reservations about signing Haaland despite being in the race for his signature, with the glitch being more tactical than financial. ESPN claim that Chelsea scouts ‘raised concerns’ about whether the striker’s stylistic Bundesliga profile would be suitable for the Premier League, further outlining that the transition from German football to the English pitches could prove a problem as there’s less space for forward players to attack and run into in the Premier League.
Now only time will tell as to whether Chelsea have made the correct decision when the Norwegian striker steps onto the pitch for the new season.