When will Erling Haaland make his debut for Manchester City?
The Norwegian striker has the the opportunity to debut for Manchester City in Pep Guardiola’s side’s first pre-season game.
Erling Haaland to Manchester City promised to be the transfer story of the summer, but it was over before it started. On June 13, Manchester City announced the signing of the most promising striker in world soccerl. A player who, at 21, has already made a devastating impact on the game. His goal stats are enough to scare the most experienced defense. 134 goals in 182 games.
Haaland bagged 29 of those goals with RB Salzburg, where he attracted attention playing just 27 games. He then scored 85 goals in 88 games for Borussia Dortmund, catapulting himself into the game’s elite. And now, Erling Haaland has taken another step on his mission to dominate soccer. He’s moved to Manchester, under Pep Guardiola, as the club bids to finally land the long-awaited Champions League they have spent so many millions of dollars pursuing.
When will Haaland first play for City?
All City fans have been desperate to see Haaland finally pull on the sky blue shirt - and everything points to the devastating player making his debut for Manchester City (admittedly non-competitive) in Houston, Texas.
At 7.30 p.m. local time (8.30 p.m. ET), Pep Guardiola’s side play Club América at the NRG Stadium. It is the first match of the club’s preparation for a season that starts on July 30 for the Premier League champions with the Community Shield, against the FA Cup winners, Liverpool.
Kalvin Phillips, Julián Álvarez and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega will also make their debuts under Guardiola against Club América. The attention, however, is all focused on Haaland. His presence lends a far greater level of interest to what is a standard pre-season friendly.
Answers from Haaland’s role in City vs Club América
City’s match against Club América will be closely scrutinised in the hunt for clues about the role that Haaland will play in his new team. What is Pep expecting of the physical Norwegian? How will Haaland link up with his new teammates such as Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden? And what will be his precise position? The number ninet the Mancunians have missed since the departure of Sergio Agüero, or if he be slightly further back, to get involved in the construction of the moves? Perhaps Pep will ask him, given his physical ability, to focus on running diagonals from the wing using all the power he’s demonstrated with his previous teams. The Haaland era at City is about to get underway.
