– Basically, there are very few pitfalls. He is one of the world’s best strikers who comes to one of the best clubs with the very best manager. He has changed clubs several times and done well, but this is a big step. He comes to a club that is expected to win all matches, and that is new, says Viaplay’s Premier League commentator Kasper Wikestad to Dagbladet.
Wikestad adds that you can never know what happens until you have the decision in hand. At the same time, the expert points out that Haaland comes to a team where all players are big stars, and who have played without a striker for more or less two seasons.
– They have to play in a slightly new way when Haaland comes in. There is adaptation for Haaland, his teammates and Guardiola. It can definitely be a challenge. That said, I can not see too many opportunities for this to go bad, Wikestad believes.
PROFILE: Viaplay commentator Kasper Wikestad. Photo: Shad Madian / Dagbladet
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– Quite utopian
After a long period of speculation, Haaland was finally ready for Manchester City in June. The Norwegian striker has replaced goals for the club team Borussia Dortmund, a trend he has continued for the Norwegian national team.
Much of the same can be said about Romelu Lukaku, who occasionally ravaged Inter, but who still did not find himself at ease in Chelsea after the billion transfer last summer. Lukaku is now linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, but TV 2’s longtime Premier League expert Erik Thorstvedt doubts that Haaland will suffer the same fate.
– It is not a matter of course that it will be a huge success. There are some players like Erling and Kylian Mbappé where everything indicates that this will go well, but I guessed that Lukaku would be the top scorer in the Premier League. “This is exactly the piece Chelsea are missing,” I thought, but then it just did not happen. So it’s not that simple.
Opens against West Ham
He continues:
– We have had some internal bets on how many goals Haaland will score, some are up to 40 goals, but I think that is quite utopian. I do not think that will happen in 38 league rounds, but that he can score 25 goals in an injury-free season, I am quite convinced, Thorstvedt tells Dagbladet.
He adds that Haaland has struggled with injuries in recent years. According to Thorstvedt, the former Molde striker has lost around 25 percent of the matches in recent seasons after trouble with the body.
– Of course there are challenges. Scoring a lot of goals in the Premier League is probably a little more difficult than it is in the Bundesliga. There are several examples of large transitions rarely being as good as you think. The biggest challenge is probably that Manchester City play in a slightly different way, but it is perhaps more Guardiola’s challenge than for Erling.
IN STUDIO: TV 2 experts Yaw Amankwah and Erik Thorstvedt. Photo: Eivind Senneset / TV 2
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Not at the same level
Thorstvedt believes that all of Manchester City’s offensive players have extremely good close technique, but that Haaland is not at the same level as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish & Co. The TV 2 profile asks, among other things, how many more goals the light blues can score and how much better they can actually be.
– It is a challenge, but having said that, I am reasonably confident that this will go well. There is talk of how many goals he can score, but a successful season means first and foremost what the team can achieve – and how many trophies they can win, he says and continues:
– If Erling is involved in making Manchester City win the Champions League, that transfer has been a success, regardless of whether he only scores eleven in the Premier League, Thorstvedt concludes.