Haaland showing Pep and Grealish what a €100m player really looks like

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 4 min read

Erling Haaland’s staggering start to life at Manchester City continued on Wednesday as he netted a brilliant goal in a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

City might have laboured during the match, but the Norway international ensured that their struggles were forgotten with an improbable leaping finish towards the end of the encounter.

Signed for just €60 million from BVB in the summer, the 22-year-old is set to be one of the bargain arrivals of the summer.

Haaland has brought City a dimension they previously lacked, with his scoring instinct making him unquestionably the best No.9 in the world on present form.

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Dortmund, of course, will be kicking themselves that they were unable to extract better value from the deal, but they found themselves with their hands tied due to the agreement that they made with the player when he arrived from RB Salzburg in January 2020.

While City found themselves a bargain in the form of Haaland, a year earlier they dramatically overpaid for Jack Grealish.

Grealish is the anti-Haaland

Signed for €118 million from Aston Villa, manager Pep Guardiola would have expected Grealish to have had the type of impact that Haaland has enjoyed. Instead, he has offered virtually nothing over the course of his time with the club.

The England international has scored just six goals for City and has provided only four assists in more than a year at the Etihad.

Grealish has contributed directly to just 10 goals with Manchester City, with his valuation plummeting to just €35m – less than a third of what he was bought for. By contrast, Haaland has already chipped in with 14 (13 strikes and one assist) and is one of the most valuable players in the world.

Both started Wednesday’s Champions League match against Dortmund, and their contrasting impact was notable. Grealish offered nothing offensively: he didn’t create a single change, his three shots were blocked and he drew only one foul – an aspect of the game he was once famously strong at. Haaland may have been quiet, but he scored an inspired winner.

Grealish is the anti-Haaland. Where the Norwegian is ruthlessly efficient, the Englishman offers style but little substance.

Now of course they play differing roles, but the fact it has taken Haaland less than six weeks not only to catch Grealish but also comfortably pass him shows the difference in the calibre of the two players.

Haaland may only have been bought by Pep Guardiola for around half the price of Grealish, but he is at least twice the player.