Erling Haaland / signs for Dortmund

[Handré1990]

All this hype reminds me of Depay. Lets take a step back - sure he seems a great talent, but it's the Austrian league. There is a big step up to the PL. Similar to Greenwood, who is totally dominating in youth level, but is at least two years away from being able to lead the line for us.

We need two strikers in order to have enough backup, so in short, I'm all for buying this guy, but Martial should stay our number one, with EH providing much needed backup - as I said already Greenwood cannot do it yet and Rashford is wasted there. We will have Martial and EL for ST, Rashford and James for LW, Greenwood and James for RW. This is very decent as it is, but all of them would have a big potential for improvement too, so in couple years we could have a world class strike force.

You’re having a mare here mate

Youth level in England, is a joke. Why it’s organized like it is, I’ll never understand. Comparing it to what Haaland has done so far, in less than half a season, is, at best, one of the worst arguments I’ve seen on here. Also, why should Martial stay number one? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan, but if Haaland came in and did anything close to what he’s doing now, he’d take that spot without question. Martial has a lot going for him, and could even play as a SS/10 imo.

 

[Bobcat]

City have Bernardo, Sterling, Mahrez, Sane, Aguero, Jesus competing for 3 spots and some on here are losing their shit over 'what will happen to Martial if we sign this kid'

Yeah its bizarre. We basically have 4 attackers covering 3 spots right now, and one of those is a teenager from the academy. There is plenty of game time to go around for everyone and if Martial gets injured we are royally fecked as we all should know well by now

You dont have to play 90 minutes every week to develop as a player

 

[TrebleFan99]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but ‘sources’ say Barca have been told Haaland will cost them €100m. He looks amazing but that’s a lot of money.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...-haaland-but-put-off-by-100-million-price-tag

 

[7even]

Have a look at some of the stats from this season. From WhoScored. PL only.

Rashford 6/3 (goals/ass)
Mané 7/2
Sterling 7/1
Pulisic 5/2

Martial 3/3
Firmino 3/3
Aguero 9/2 (Jesus 3/1)
Abraham 10/2

Dan James 3/2
Salah 6/3
B Silva 5/2 (Mahrez 2/3)
William 2/3

City has so far scored 2,9 goals/game in the PL.
Liverpool 2,3
Chelsea 2,3
United 1,3


Erling Haaland 19 years old. 194 cm, 87 kg. (Zlatan wasn’t close to these numbers in the same age)

CL 7 goals in 271 minutes
Bundesliga 15 goals in 10 games (2 sub)

We can’t shy away from a talent like this no matter the costs. The stats speaks for itself.

 

[andersj]

Have a look at some of the stats from this season. From WhoScored. PL only.

Rashford 6/3 (goals/ass)
Mané 7/2
Sterling 7/1
Pulisic 5/2

Martial 3/3
Firmino 3/3
Aguero 9/2 (Jesus 3/1)
Abraham 10/2

Dan James 3/2
Salah 6/3
B Silva 5/2 (Mahrez 2/3)
William 2/3

City has so far scored 2,9 goals/game in the PL.
Liverpool 2,3
Chelsea 2,3
United 1,3


Erling Haaland 19 years old. 194 cm, 87 kg. (Zlatan wasn’t close to these numbers in the same age)

CL 7 goals in 271 minutes
Bundesliga 15 goals in 10 games (2 sub)

We can’t shy away from a talent like this no matter the costs. The stats speaks for itself.

The sample size in the CL is very small and even me and you would score a few in the Austrian bundesliga for that team. They have 4 goals a game on average. That is insane!

 

[Godfather]

The sample size in the CL is very small and even me and you would score a few in the Austrian bundesliga for that team. They have 4 goals a game on average. That is insane!

People said the same about Mane when it was clear that he was a very special talent.

Haland is too. I want him so bad.

 

[red woppit]

If he joins us there's no way it will be on a 3 year contract.

Do you think it would be longer?

 

[Jibbs]

I said it earlier and would say it again, there's no way any team and especially us getting him for anything less than 100 m euros. But i think he's worth that amount. He's the greatest thing to hit the footballing world after Mbappe. Another extremely talented attacker is Osimhen, but Haaland is just another level.

 

[andersj]

People said the same about Mane when it was clear that he was a very special talent.

Haland is too. I want him so bad.

They did? Where? And lets remember, Southampton paid £12 mill for Mane. That is quite different from paying what will be needed to get Haaland.

 

[Momochiru]

You’re having a mare here mate

Youth level in England, is a joke. Why it’s organized like it is, I’ll never understand. Comparing it to what Haaland has done so far, in less than half a season, is, at best, one of the worst arguments I’ve seen on here. Also, why should Martial stay number one? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan, but if Haaland came in and did anything close to what he’s doing now, he’d take that spot without question. Martial has a lot going for him, and could even play as a SS/10 imo.

There are tons of other examples of young players in weak leagues being over hyped.

What I'm trying to say is that expecting him to come here and immediately take the #9 position is unrealistic. People who look at players scoring for fun in weaker leagues and expecting them to produce the same in the PL are going are to be disappointed. If we get him, which is a big if by itself I don't expect him to get more than 20-30% of the game time as a #9 in the first year, maybe even less. If he comes and starts banging them in from day one, then sure, but chances of that happening are extremely small.

Overall I'm not against this signing, but not for a crazy amount like 100M - that's absurd. 50-60M is a good price considering risks/benefits.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I want someone to compete but I'm not sure if it's the correct player in the sense that in my opinion we should bring either a right sided attacker that can provide at least a dozen of goals or the equivalent of Aguero, a bonafide elite striker or both. Not an other young player that needs developing in a position where we already have several similar options.

Do you think Ben Yedder could of done a job for us especially at the price he went for? He's definitely on my one that got away list.

 

[JPRouve]

Do you think Ben Yedder could of done a job for us especially at the price he went for? He's definitely on my one that got away list.

I don't how he would have adapted but we needed bodies and on paper he is a good player.

 

[troylocker]

What I'm trying to say is that expecting him to come here and immediately take the #9 position is unrealistic. People who look at players scoring for fun in weaker leagues and expecting them to produce the same in the PL are going are going to be disappointed. If we get him, which is a big if by itself I don't expect him to get more than 20-30% of the game time as a #9 in the first year, maybe even less. If he comes and starts banging them in from day one, then sure, but chances of that happening are extremely small.

I don’t think we would pay 60-100M for the biggest striker talent in the world right now to let him play 2nd fiddle for a guy who has never scored more than 11 leaguegoals in a season. Like Mbappé, Felix, Sancho and the other big talents he will be a starter.
Martial is a good player, but he is not world class and half the talent this guy is. We don’t need the Firmino-type either, because we don’t have wingers who net 20+ each. We need that 20-40 striker to lift us to challenger mode again. I believe Haaland is that guy. Some other upgrades is needed too, but it would be a hell of a start to get him in January.

 

[Jibbs]

I don’t think we would pay 60-100M for the biggest striker talent in the world right now to let him play 2nd fiddle for a guy who has never scored more than 11 leaguegoals in a season. Like Mbappé, Felix, Sancho and the other big talents he will be a starter.
Martial is a good player, but he is not world class and half the talent this guy is. We don’t need the Firmino-type either, because we don’t have wingers who net 20+ each. We need that 20-40 striker to lift us to challenger mode again. I believe Haaland is that guy. Some other upgrades is needed too, but it would be a hell of a start to get him in January.

Exactly, If we really want to fight for the title next year, we absolutely must need to sign players like Haaland and Sancho up front. Amazing if we are able to sign both. We can then even go and sign players like Kalvin Phillips who don't go for astronomical amounts and are good enough to do the job, but up top we need to have talents like Haaland and Sancho.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I don't how he would have adapted but we needed bodies and on paper he is a good player.

Watched a lot of him in the Spanish league and thought he would of been perfect for us. Skillful player, very hard working, a natural finisher and at 29 would of given us a few years giving our younger players time to mature. Would of thought 150 goals in 320 games should of at least brought him on our radar. Maybe he was but not to be.

 

[GledTheRed]

Do you think it would be longer?

We wouldn't offer a three year deal and wouldn't let him dictate otherwise, would be a 5 year deal or a 4 with a years option.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

People said the same about Mane when it was clear that he was a very special talent.

Haland is too. I want him so bad.

Agreed. Get him now, even if United have to loan him back for rest of season. Kid looks born to score goals in the PL.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

People said the same about Mane when it was clear that he was a very special talent.

Haland is too. I want him so bad.

People also said the same about Depay, Aspas and a whole host of others that ended up failing. Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts...

 

[devlinadl]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but ‘sources’ say Barca have been told Haaland will cost them €100m. He looks amazing but that’s a lot of money.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...-haaland-but-put-off-by-100-million-price-tag

Judging by the past few summers, that's the entire transfer budget.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

This is probably one of the very few opportunities we have to sign a potential generational talent. Barca has signed Neymar De Jong Dembele so far. Psg has signed Mbappe. Man city has signed Bernardo Silva.

World class teams sign these type of players. And through Ole we actually have a chance to be the first choice for a quality young player. Not Barca not Madrid but US.

To be honest with Martials age and current form and the way he links the players together especially with Rashford, the ideal striker would have been someone with experience that is willing to play second fiddle. Haaland's price would also be at least 60m and that's the price you pay for someone expected to come in and perform and not as a bench warmer especially when we have other priorities. But like I said Haaland could be a generational talent and we shouldn't miss out on this.

If we get him given Martials current form I don't know how we'd use him. Maybe we could use Martial as a false 9 behind he and Rashford

 

[Lentwood]

I’ve always thought Martial could easily play as a #10, as could Dan James (in a different way)

Haaland looks quality and could easily be our CF, with Rashford, James and Martial interchanging and playing off him in behind

Stick Pogba and McTominay behind them and our already reasonably solid back 5 and we start looking like an actual Man Utd team again

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

For the people suggesting we buy him because this is United and we always have players competing for positions. Could you please explain how you would use or rotate both he and Martial in a way that wouldn't affect them?

Also I don't recall a world class team like Barca Madrid City Bayern etc ever having two young strikers competing for one spot. Usually one is experienced and world class and the other is potential(Benzema and Jovic or Aguero and Jesus or Aubameyang and Martinelli etc ) or one is world class and the other is just back up (Suarez and Boeteng or Icardi and Cavani or Kane and Llorente). A Jovic and a Gabriel Jesus in one team competing for the striking position doesn't seem ideal

 

[red woppit]

We wouldn't offer a three year deal and wouldn't let him dictate otherwise, would be a 5 year deal or a 4 with a years option.

That's definitely what United would want, but what if Haaland and his agent wanted a three year deal (with a possible years option?), would we play hardball and say no way, or be a bit more pragmatic, and agree, hoping that say in two years time we would be competing at the top of the Prem and in the Champions League, so Haaland would want to sign a new deal. It will be interesting to see how things pan out, personally I would try to get him in the January window, whatever he costs, as I believe his value will increase quite substantially over the next few years, but I also feel that we desperately require possibly two tried and trusted, solid midfielders in the January window, whether we can get them is another matter.

 

[onetwo3oclock4oclockrock]

Could you please explain how you would use or rotate both he and Martial in a way that wouldn't affect them?

With a good run in Europe, FA-cup, League cup, plus 38 PL matches, there's up to 60 matches in a season. It's madness assuming Martial can do the entire job all by himself. Plenty of matches to go around for both Martial, Haaland and Greenwood. For a team that is suppose to be one of the giants of world football, United are very thin up front. I really don't understand why people are even debating this thing. Haaland only played 82 minutes his first six months in Salzburg. I'm sure there will be a gradually inclusion in the United team as well, something Haaland will be happy with.

 

[Amadaeus]

4-2-2-2

—————-De Gea—————-
AWB - Smalling - Maguire - Shaw
——Mctominay —— Pogba——
—-Sancho ——— Rashford—-
———-Håland - Martial——-

—————— Romero ————-
Dalot —— Lindelof—- Tuanzebe—- Williams
——Fred —— Eduardo Camavinga —-
———Chong — Gomes ———- James
———————Greenwood ————

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

4-2-2-2

—————-De Gea—————-
AWB - Smalling - Maguire - Shaw
——Mctominay —— Pogba——
—-Sancho ——— Rashford—-
———-Håland - Martial——-

—————— Romero ————-
Dalot —— Lindelof—- Bailey—- Williams
——Fred —— Eduardo Camavinga —-
———Chong — Gomes ———- James
———————Greenwood ————

I like this but I doubt Pogba will be here next summer. I've also heard that this formation is outdated and has a lot of cons. I don't know just saying

 

[Shaw Mee Tah Mané]

4-2-2-2

—————-De Gea—————-
AWB - Smalling - Maguire - Shaw
——Mctominay —— Pogba——
—-Sancho ——— Rashford—-
———-Håland - Martial——-

Thats a 4-2-4 with a b2b and playmaker in the middle. Good luck!

That said, im extremely pro buying Haaland. Potential world beater.

 

[Handré1990]

There are tons of other examples of young players in weak leagues being over hyped.

What I'm trying to say is that expecting him to come here and immediately take the #9 position is unrealistic. People who look at players scoring for fun in weaker leagues and expecting them to produce the same in the PL are going are to be disappointed. If we get him, which is a big if by itself I don't expect him to get more than 20-30% of the game time as a #9 in the first year, maybe even less. If he comes and starts banging them in from day one, then sure, but chances of that happening are extremely small.

Overall I'm not against this signing, but not for a crazy amount like 100M - that's absurd. 50-60M is a good price considering risks/benefits.

None of those over hyped kids were top scorers after half a CL group stage was played. It’s absurd to look past that.

You were the one who were talking about who should be number one. I’d expect him to come here and fight like hell to get a starting spot, and push Martial at the same time. Every transfer involves risk, and if he were to go for more than whatever arbitrary price you’d deem OK, it’d be because a lot of other top teams would’ve been keen to sign him.

 

[Amadaeus]

Thats a 4-2-4 with a b2b and playmaker in the middle. Good luck!

That said, im extremely pro buying Haaland. Potential world beater.

Yea, we might have to sacrifice Pogba. Nothing wrong with Mctominay in there. But I agree with Pogba as he lacks the defensive discipline to work in such a system and he takes to much risk with the ball. A player who is good at keeping the ball and evading pressure like Stantislav Lobotka might be a good gem signing.

 

[Red_Orchestra]

100m sounds just about right for a player with 100 teams after his signature. The question is if we were to spend 100m on one player, would it be on Haaland or Sancho

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but ‘sources’ say Barca have been told Haaland will cost them €100m. He looks amazing but that’s a lot of money.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...-haaland-but-put-off-by-100-million-price-tag

€100M for them, €60M for us

 

[BlueHaze]

100m sounds just about right for a player with 100 teams after his signature. The question is if we were to spend 100m on one player, would it be on Haaland or Sancho

Sancho for me. Then maybe look if we could bring Werner in.

 

[friendlytramp]

———————Martial
—-—Rashford————Sancho
Williams———————————James
————-Pogba————McT
—-Maguire——Tuanzebe—Wan Bissaka
———————-De Gea

Romero
Dalot
Lindelöf
Garner
Fred
Haaland
Greenwood

 

[MikeKing]

He has to be the best alternative in this market for us to take a punt on. Instead of signing any other ageing striker or someone with more of a limited ceiling. We get immediate competition and coverage. If he fails, it's likely due to some of our other attackers stepping up and if he makes it it's because he was better than the others. It's a win win, and if he fails completely we can still cope with Martial and Greenwood while we sell him for a fee that has not dropped much due to his age. It is a gamble though, and we have to think about the balance of our squad and if we have got enough money. I would say if we could get him for up to 60m, it would be worth the risk even in our situation. A lot more than that and it's a bit too risky, and unfair on the kid too.

 

[MetoTTT]

I think buying a kid like him would be a better investment than taking Dembélé.
Martial will be under pressure and the best will play. That should be the case for all positions in a club like ours.
Have quality, potential everywhere in the team to create a healthy competition and not have the certainty to play if a player is not good.
A place in the team must be earned and it is not due.

 

[7even]

Sancho vs. Haaland. Make a poll!

 

[RedRonaldo]

100m sounds just about right for a player with 100 teams after his signature. The question is if we were to spend 100m on one player, would it be on Haaland or Sancho

If we have to spend 100m to get one of them, I’d rather spend it on Sancho.

 

[Jibbs]

Any transfer amount close to or above 100m mark should only be reserved for potential 20 plus goal scorers. And with Haaland, we will get that, if it is a chouce between Haaland and Sancho, we should go for Haaland, and sign McNeil as a winger.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Ultimately, no amount of stats can give an accurate picture whether he’s the real deal or a flash in the pan as the sample size is too small. This is where the knowledge and experience of a DoF or Chief Scout is critical to identify
1) If he actually has potential to become a proper star
2) If he can do it in the premier league
3) If he can do it for us and what role(s) can he occupy in the team

If we choose not to go for him and he becomes a star elsewhere, then what a shame it would be.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Ultimately, no amount of stats can give an accurate picture whether he’s the real deal or a flash in the pan as the sample size is too small. This is where the knowledge and experience of a DoF or Chief Scout is critical to identify
1) If he actually has potential to become a proper star
2) If he can do it in the premier league
3) If he can do it for us and what role(s) can he occupy in the team

If we choose not to go for him and he becomes a star elsewhere, then what a shame it would be.

Totally agree but in this instance who would know these answers better than Ole himself? A legend of a striker who managed him. . This is what baffles me. If he was so great how the heck did Ole not just make him our first signing. On top of the fact he was getting rid of Sanchez and Lukaku. The only reason is that he doesn't think he is any good or that he doesn't fit. Talk about an open goal of a transfer move. He could have brought in a star for 5 mill. Everyone would think he was mad and then pow now he would be seen as a genius.