Five reasons why Haaland to Man City is a boring transfer

Paul Macdonald

• 10 May 2022 09:57 CDT
• 5 min read

Erling Haaland’s transfer to Manchester City should be one of the most monumental deals football has ever seen, but there’s a feeling among fans that there isn’t the interest in this deal that there perhaps should be.

Which begs the question - why? Let’s look at some reasons.

1. Haaland has been a saga… forever

Ever since breaking through at RB Salzburg, Haaland’s career has been one of constant speculation. Where would he go? Who would get his signature? All the biggest teams lined up and yet he chose Dortmund - a thoroughly sensible transfer given the options available, one that allowed him to develop at a higher level than in Austria.

But from the minute he was in the door at Dortmund, we were already talking about one of the biggest teams in Germany being a stepping-stone for the next move. And it all started to get a little bit tiresome, as numerous clubs circled and we all seemed to forget that Haaland was actually playing, in real time, and making a huge goalscoring impact.

So it’s an ongoing saga that is coming to a rather predictable end, and it’s difficult to get excited about the prospect of that.

2. Manchester City are great, and becoming better

If you think of Juan Sebastian Veron to Manchester United in 2001, or Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea in 2006, or even Luis Diaz in January, there’s a sense of foreboding about the best teams - who are already very difficult to beat - simply making themselves even better.

Fans are already watching processions from Manchester City in the majority of their matches, particularly in the Premier League, and it’s unlikely that the addition of one of the most prolific, natural finishers in the game today is likely to change that momentum. And so it’s less to do with people not liking or caring about Manchester City, rather the continuation of the status quo that can become boring over time.

3. Injury concerns

We’ve already highlighted here how much football Haaland has played at this stage of his career, and how his injuries this season should be something of a concern for City.

He has suffered hip flexor and muscular problems this season that have kept him out of action for much longer than he would have liked and when we take into consideration the fact that he will be joining a high-press team, it makes the situation worse. Can his body cope with how many games City will play in any given season?

It will be expected that they will compete, deep, in all fronts once again. The fact that he’s already missing games, coupled with the fact that City have far from an unblemished record on the injury front, means we may not even see the best of him in any case.

4. The obscene contract demands

Haaland has regularly complained that he just wants to ‘play football’ and that he isn’t interested in the speculation over a transfer, and yet his late agent, Mino Raiola, set the situation up to feed entirely into this narrative.

We also know that Raiola himself requested a huge agent fee, plus another gigantic payment for Erling’s father, and a ludicrous wage package of around €500k per week. And, it appears, City have bowed to every conceivable demand (even if there are reports he will earn slightly less at €439,000 per week) when, as we noted, football should have collectively told them to f**k off. It’s difficult to get excited or feel happy for something as deeply cynical as this.

5. The Premier League getting stronger, as another league gets weaker

Not only has the Bundesliga lost a key reason to watch it every week, it simply further strengthens the Premier League’s position at the centre of the universe. Another big name, on more money than any other league could afford, centralising the talent in a single place.

Contrary to what EPL fans might think they want, the financial disparity isn’t good for football as a whole, and this is just another reminder that there is no longer a European elite, rather a Premier League elite, and everyone else.