What Bundesliga tax? Haaland outstripping Werner and Sancho
Karan Tejwani
- 27 Aug 2022 17:55 BST
- 3 min read
Erling Haaland began his Premier League career in impressive fashion, scoring six goals in his four games, and bagging one assist as well.
The start has been impressive, and he’s winning crucial Manchester City points having helped complete a comeback win over Crystal Palace.
He was one of the most high-profile signings of the window, and there were great expectations around him, with many looking to see if he could carry his form into the Premier League.
His start is better than many other attackers who have joined the Premier League in recent years from the German top-flight, including the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Heung-min Son.
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Haaland's start compared to other attacking players
Aubameyang joined Arsenal midway through the 2017/18 season from Borussia Dortmund, and his first four games saw him score two goals, one of which came in a defeat against Brighton.
He got into gear after that and helped Arsenal for years later, finishing as top scorer in the 2019/20 season, but never played Champions League football for them.
Son had a far more difficult start, scoring four goals in his entire first season in the Premier League, and only one of that came in his first four games, as he scored the winner against Crystal Palace.
It took him a while to get going, but Mauricio Pochettino made him one of the world’s best attacking players and he’s a star for Tottenham, finishing as the league’s top scorer last season.
Roberto Firmino joined Liverpool from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2015 with expectations, although he started as more of an attacking midfielder.
That led to him failing to score much in his first season, with his first goal coming in November that year when Jurgen Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as head coach.
Erling Haaland is currently averaging 1.65 goal per 90 in the Premier League. That’s a 59% increase on his strike rate in the Bundesliga.
Premier League tax.— Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) August 27, 2022
Timo Werner was one of the Bundesliga’s top forwards when he swapped RB Leipzig for Chelsea, but he was quite blunt in the Premier League.
He was only able to bag one assist in his first four games as Frank Lampard struggled to set up his team, however, Thomas Tuchel joined mid-season and spurred his side on to the Champions League.
Similarly, Kai Havertz was an attacking midfielder but had a tendency to go forward: his first four Premier League games in 2020/21 saw him bang just one assist.
Others such as Jadon Sancho and Sebastien Haller also had tougher starts, proving how good Haaland has been and making the transition between England and Germany's top flights ridiculously easy.
