Former Man City duo hail Erling Haaland’s style of play as ‘perfect’ for the Premier League

Erling Haaland’s arrival at Manchester City came with much anticipation given his prolific goal-scoring record for previous club Borussia Dortmund.

The 22-year-old netted 86 goals in 89 appearances for the German side in all competitions during his two-and-a-half-year tenure there.

He has made an instant impact at City, netting three goals and registering one assists in their first three Premier League games, including a double against West Ham United in their opening fixture.

The Norwegian followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Sky Blues and his performances on the pitch have led to former City defender Steve Howey dubbing Erling ‘perfect’ for the Premier League.

“Haaland is perfect for the Premier League, and I think he will terrorize defenders,” Howey told the Sky Blues’ media team.

“I’ve had little discussions with Alfie, his dad, and I just knew he would fly in this league because he’s got the physique and power plus, he is direct, aggressive and he’s almost a throwback to the traditional number nine of yesteryear combined with the modern striker because he has the attributes of both.

“I’m not surprised by what I’ve seen so far, and I think he’s going to get better and better, stronger, and score plenty of goals as the season goes on.”

Howey’s opinion of Haaland was shared by fellow ex-City star Trevor Sinclair, who believes the Sky Blues no.9 is a great team player as well as goal-scorer.

“I’ve noticed that apart from those balls we have been playing in behind the defence for him to run on to, when he comes a little bit deeper, it allows Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo [Silva] to run into those spaces he’s created and that’s because the central defenders are preoccupied thinking they can’t allow Haaland to get in behind them,” said Sinclair.

“I love his mentality because as well as his undoubted physicality, when he scores his goals, you can see him waving his arms and making little gestures to anyone who is doubting him.

"He’s got this inner determination that is saying, ‘I don’t care how many doubters I’ve got, I’m gonna score goals’ and his celebrations sort of encapsulate all that.

“His mentality is fantastic and provided he can steer clear of injury, I think he’s going to score an unbelievable number of goals for City.”

Haaland will be hoping to continue his form in the league when City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but before this, the Norwegian could feature in the Sky Blues friendly match against Barcelona on Wednesday evening.