- Haaland has scored 85 goals in 88 games for Dortmund, including 61 in 66 Bundesliga games, 15 in 13 Champions League games
- Erling Haaland has been the most sought-after centre-forward in the world due to his incredible performance on the field
- The 21-year old will be making his waited arrival at Etihad this summer after City initiated a $67.7million release clause
- He became the fastest player in a century to score 25 goals in Europe’s top five leagues, accomplishing this feat in just 25 Bundesliga matches
After months of speculation, Erling Haaland will join reigning Premier League champions Manchester City this summer after completing his transfer from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.
Since making his major league debut as a 15-year-old in 2017, the Norwegian experience has surged straight to the top of the game, becoming the most sought-after young center-forward globally.
Erling Haaland has scored 85 goals in 88 games for Dortmund. Photo: Eurosport
After weeks of speculation that a deal with City had been reached, the Premier League club announced Tuesday that the 21-year-old would be arriving at the Etihad Stadium this summer.
According to ESPN, City initiated a $67.7million release clause to sign Haaland, and he will sign a five-year contract worth £375,000 per week.
Here’s a breakdown of the prolific output that catapulted Haaland from breakout wunderkind to one of the game’s most sought-after talents in a matter of years.
After scoring 29 goals in 27 games as a teenager for Austrian club FC Salzburg, Haaland made the step up to elite European football when he signed for Bundesliga club Dortmund during the 2019-20 season’s winter break.
Haaland has scored 85 goals in 88 games for Dortmund (a precise ratio of 0.96 goals per game), including 61 in 66 Bundesliga games, 15 in 13 Champions League games, eight in seven DFB Pokal games, and one in the two German Supercup appearances.
In the 7,125 minutes, he’s been on the field for Dortmund. He’s scored one goal every 83.8 minutes on average. In just 50 games in the Bundesliga, the fiercely efficient forward scored his first 50 league goals.
Haaland has accumulated 23 assists for Dortmund in all competitions, demonstrating that he is more than a one-trick pony when it comes to attacking involvement: 19 in the Bundesliga, two in the Champions League, and one each in the German Cup and Supercup.
GOAL BREAK DOWN AT DORTMUND
A closer examination of Haaland’s goal total at Dortmund reveals the automatic, reflexive, and powerful striker he has evolved into.
Most of his 85 competitive goals have come from inside the penalty area (82), with only three coming from outside the penalty area.
Erling Haaland has scored15 goals in 13 Champions League games Photo: Getty Images
Although he is supposedly left-footed, he has scored a fair number of goals with his right foot, and his aerial ability should not be overlooked.
In short, he’s pretty much the full package when positioned in front of the goal.
In addition to his close-range positioning, Haaland can rely on his raw speed across the ground to create opportunities for himself.
Haaland has scored 71 goals for Dortmund from open play, with 63 assisted by teammates.
Furthermore, nearly half (49) of Haaland’s 85 goals have been scored with his first touch, highlighting the striker’s innate ability to time his runs to perfection to race in and apply the finishing touch to an attacking move.
However, 11 of them were penalty kicks.
COMPARING HAALAND TO THE BEST IN EUROPE
Since his official transfer to Dortmund on January 1, 2020, Haaland has scored 85 competitive goals for the German club.
Only two players in Europe’s top five leagues have scored more: PSG’s Kylian Mbappe (89 goals) and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (122 goals).
Haaland is tied for third place with Cristiano Ronaldo. The new City striker, on the other hand, has amassed his total in far fewer games — just 88.
All three stars — Lewandowski, Mbappe, and Ronaldo — have played more than 100 games (a little shy of two-and-a-half years).
RECORDS BROKEN AT DORTMUND
In addition to scoring goals for fun, Haaland had broken several records at Dortmund, a trend that began on January 18th, 2020, when he made his debut for the club.
The then-19-year-old came off the bench in a 3-1 loss to FC Augsburg at the WWK ARENA.
He then staged a one-person comeback, scoring a hat trick with his first three shots inside the first 23 minutes of his Bundesliga debut, as Dortmund rallied to win 5-3.
It was also the first time a Dortmund player scored three goals on his debut since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did so seven years ago, also against Augsburg.
Haaland will be arriving at Etihad this summer. Photo: Sorting News
Haaland became the fastest player in a century to score 25 goals in any of Europe’s top five leagues, accomplishing this feat in just 25 Bundesliga matches.
Haaland is also the first Dortmund player to score on his Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and Champions League debuts. He certainly has a habit of flying out of the traps.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RECORDS BROKEN
Haaland is the first player to score multiple goals in four consecutive Champions League games, among other UEFA competition achievements.
With the goal-scoring theme, Haaland is the second-youngest player (19 years and 212 days) to reach ten goals in the Champions League, trailing only Mbappe (18 years and 350 days), though he is the fastest to do so.
Haaland successfully surpassed Mbappe to become the competition’s youngest player to reach 20 goals. He also holds the record for the fewest number of games (14) required to reach 20 goals.
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