Erling Haaland: the cheapest €60 million ever spent

FT Desk

• 22 Oct 2022 18:15 BST
• 3 min read

Erling Haaland bagged a brace as Manchester City beat Brighton 2-0 to move onto 17 goals from 11 games this season. Eight of City's starting XI cost more than him!

Haaland has been ruthlessly efficient since swapping Borussia Dortmund for City for just €60 million this summer, racing to the top of the Premier League's scoring charts with a goal every 55 minutes he has played.

His first against Brighton showed his strength and anticipation, latching onto an Ederson long ball before holding off the Brazilian's opposite number Robert Sanchez and slotting home on his weaker right foot; the second was a converted penalty on his stronger left.

He now has 11 Premier League goals with his left foot, three with his right, and three headers. He also has more goals than Chelsea and Manchester United - two clubs competing for Europe if not City's title outright - have throughout their squads.

That City got Haaland for just €60m is proving an incredible return on investment. His cost per goal in the Premier League is now down to €3.5m. If you add his five Champions League goals - from just three games - it is just €2.7m.

Good company

There are academy graduates who have lit up the Premier League scoring charts in their time. Harry Kane is a recent example, with 192 English top-flight strikes to his name for Tottenham Hotspur, who didn't have to spend big on him at 11 years old.

Across North London, Nicolas Anelka is another fine example of getting serious bang for your buck. Le Sulk, as he was later known, only cost Arsenal €575,000 when he joined from Paris Saint-Germain back in February 1997 and fired the Gunners to a domestic treble in 1998.

But Haaland is already eight goals clear of second-best Kane in this season's race to be top scorer, and just six shy of Anelka's all-time haul for Arsenal having played 50 fewer games.

And to put his case into even sharper focus, Haaland was only the eighth-most expensive player of City's starting line-up on Saturday. Jack Grealish cost nearly twice as much, and, in order, each of Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Riyadh Mahrez, Ruben Diaz, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo cost more than him.

Haaland hasn't won anything with City quite yet, but even at this early stage of the season, it looks like he will prove to be the best €60m ever spent.