Is Haaland the best number 9 now?

Football fans cannot ignore the name Erling Haaland since he joined Manchester City. He is destroying clubs and scoring tons of goals in Premier League fixtures and in the UEFA Champions League as well, making the defender’s work a lot more difficult. His records in every club he has played are astonishing. He does not miss a chance to score. Once he gets on the ball he becomes ridiculously good and destroys the opponents with speed and strength. Haaland is a proper number 9 and may be one of the best in the world right now. His competition is not easy as we have many legendary number 9 strikers playing like Lewandowski, Benzema, etc. But he seems to have a great future ahead. 

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the best of the best on which no one can argue. But the way Haaland is finding the back of the net in every game maybe he will overcome their records too. There are other young number 9 too like Mbappe, Nunez, Vlahovic, etc but this season Haaland is on another level. He is outsmarting every team he is facing and no one has been able to stop him. Premier League – which is often termed as the most difficult league for strikers where it’s hard for them to find them the net once and then there this guy is scoring hattricks so frequently like it’s his routine now.

Just when we think we have seen all he comes up with a new trick to surprise us, his recent goal against his former club Dortmund in UCL was evidence of that – a beauty to watch.  He is the one last piece of the puzzle that was missing in Pep Guardiola’s City team. He could have signed for any club in the world but he signed for City because he knew there he will start every game as Manchester City did not have a striker at that time.

No doubt that with the likes of De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, and Gundogan, he is getting a lot of chances in the box to score, but kudos to this man for completely using this talented midfield and not missing a single scoring chance he gets.  It is because of him Manchester City became a strong contender for winning Premier League and Champions League too.  

joining Juventus

When he joined Dortmund he was close to joining Juventus where he had a chance to play with legendary players like Ronaldo, Bonucci, and Chiellini. He was even offered more money but he chose Dortmund and this may be the decision that changed his life and kept him in goal-scoring form. Like most footballers, he could have joined Juventus and won trophies with them as Juventus were the strongest in Serie A.

With Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, they even had a chance to win the Champions league. He did not join Juventus for glory and money because he knew he didn’t have a place there and he would end up a bench warmer or fight hard for his place as the first team was full and successful. He decided to join Dortmund where he knew he will start every game. By playing this much football he gained experience and he never lost his form. Dortmund was struggling at that point as Bayern was the strongest in Bundesliga but still, he went to Dortmund because he knew there he would get the chance to showcase the talent he possesses. And he knew the bigger clubs will fight among themselves to get his signature on the contract. 

So, we can say that he makes smart decisions off the field as well like his exceptional and clever positioning on the field. Haaland wants playing time more than money because he knows that he can earn a lot of money by showcasing his talent and how can someone show his talent by sitting on the bench or being a replacement for a striker?