Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has affirmed that he was signed to Manchester City to assist the side in winning the UEFA Champions League because âthey alreadyâ know how to win the Premier League.
The Norwegian netted five goals in Manchester City’s 7-0 hammering of RB Leipzig on Tuesday night which ensured their qualification to the quarter-final of the 2022/23 Champions League campaign.
The closest Manchester City have to winning the UEFA Champions League was in the 2020/21 footballing season when they lost in the final to Chelsea via a lone goal from Kai Havertz.
The Norwegian forwards says the club signed him to win the Champions League
Erling Haaland said: “Of course the club want to win the Champions League.
“They’ve won four out of the last five Premier League titles. They didn’t bring me in to win the Premier League because they already know how to win it.
“So, you can read between the lines. I’m here to try to help the club develop even more and to win the Champions League for the first time.”
The Cityzens have had glittering years in the Premier League in the last 10 years but same cannot be said of their UEFA Champions League push.
Manchester City have won 17 titles since Sheikh Monsur acquired the club in 2008, they have won the Premier League on six different occasions with four of those successes coming under Pep Guardiola.
City have also lifted the Community Shield three times after the takeover alongside winning the FA Cup in the 2010/11 and 2018/19 seasons.Â
The team tutored by Pep Guardiola have also won the EFL Cup 6 times since they were bought by the Saudi Arabian billionaires.Â
However, the only trophy which has eluded them is the UEFA Champions League even though they have made several steps towards that move.
Sheikh Monsur signed Pep Guardiola after seeing his exploits with Barcelona and Bayern Munich with the aim of rubber-stamping their influence on the footballing game in England alongside Europe.
Guardiola won the UEFA Champions League in 2008/09 and in 2010/11 with Catalan giants Barcelona but he couldn’t lead Bayern Munich to Champions League glory in his 3 years stay with the side.
His attacker, Haaland has scored 10 Champions League goals this campaign, a return that is the most by a Manchester City player in a single campaign in the competition.
Erling Haaland became the third player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League encounter after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 for Shaktar Donetesk and Lionel Messi for Barcelona in March 2022 against Bayern Leverkusen.
Due to his monstrous output on Tuesday, his goals tally in the UEFA Champions League rose to 33 goals in 25 UEFA Champions League appearances.
Haaland is the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the history of the competition as he reached the record at just (22 years and 237 days).
The Norwegian fiery forward requires just five goals to meet Mohammed Salah and Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record for most goals in a single campaign by a Premier League player in all competitions.
His Premier League tally this season currently sits at 28 goals but in distant time strong pointers indicate that he might be hitting and possibly smashing the record.Â
Erling Haaland is also seven goals away from matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most goals in one Champions League season.
He has scored 10 goals this campaign but Cristiano Ronaldo’s record stands at 17 goals set in the 2013/14 Champions League campaign.
In spite of so far smashing many records and nearing many others, Erling Haaland thinks he can take it a notch higher.
Haaland in a conversation with CBS Golazo said:
“I knew I was going to score goals because, last season, how many did they City score? Probably 100.
“When I saw them without a striker and they were crossing the ball in, I was like ‘ah, I’d love to be there!’
“But there is so much potential in this team and I think we can improve a lot. It’s an easy thing to say, but I could have scored more goals. I missed a lot of chances.
He further said:
“I can get better in everything. I have to be much better, heading, combining, everything.”
Several plaudits have come in far and wide for the Manchester City forward alongside several clubs lurking around to get his services in the future.
