Erling Haaland explains decision to join Man City
By Tom Gott
Erling Haaland has credited his father Alf-Inge for helping him fall in love with Manchester City.
Alf-Inge moved to England in 1993 and eventually joined City in 2000, playing 45 times for the club before a nasty knee injury, which was aggravated by an infamous challenge from Roy Keane in a Manchester derby, forced him into an early retirement in 2003.
The younger Haaland, who was born in Leeds in 2000 just a month after his father left the Whites in favour of a move to City, has now admitted that the chance to follow in Alf-Inge's footsteps was behind his decision to join the club 22 years and one day after this father.
“First of all, my father, a little bit,” he told the club of his reasons for signing. “I was born in England. I have been a City fan my whole life. I know a lot about the club.
“In the end, [deciding to sign was down to] two things. I feel at home here and I feel I can develop and get the best out of my game at City.
“I like the style [of play]. I like the attacking football. I like the positive vibe we have when City play football. This is what I like a lot, so I think it’s a good fit.”
Haaland also admitted that the chance to work with Pep Guardiola was too intriguing to turn down.
“I think I can develop a lot under Pep and in this club,” he continued. “I think I can get better on a lot of things and hopefully I can score a lot."
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Finally, new team-mates Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez were given shout-outs. Haaland admitted the latter urged him to move to City when they met up on holiday back in the summer of 2021.
“I have been watching a lot of City games for as long as I can remember. Of course, then I also watched Phil and he is an amazing player,” the striker said. “He is still a talent because he is still young, but he is an amazing player. He still has to develop and then we can really talk.
"[Mahrez] told me to come to City. He was right about that. He said some good things about the club."