Chelsea chiefs are convinced new Manchester City signing Erling Haaland isn’t suited to the Premier League.
City announced yesterday the signing of the Borussia Dortmund striker.
The 21-year-old’s goalscoring record is astonishing – 85 goals in 88 games for Borussia Dortmund – but the Blues had concerns about translating that form to England’s top division, says ESPN.
Haaland’s game is based on brute strength and speed – notwithstanding his fine technical skills – and he has simply blown sides away with his power for Dortmund in the Bundesliga and RB Salzburg in Austria before that.
Several of the world’s biggest clubs were intent on signing the star this summer, but City won the race to activate his release clause and bring him to the Etihad for £51million, on wages of £385,000 a week.
However, ESPN report that a number of clubs expressed doubts over Haaland. For Chelsea, it came down to a question of whether Haaland’s skills and style of play would be as successful in the Premier League as elsewhere.
The English league is widely regarded as both the fastest and most physical elite division in the world.
Chelsea’s concern was that Haaland is afforded a lot more time and space in Germany, allowed to either run at players with the ball or attack spaces in behind the defence without.
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