Manchester City chief exec Ferran Soriano insists they’ve signed Erling Haaland for goals not for his marketing potential.
Haaland arrives from Borussia Dortmund for £51m earlier this month.
Speaking to the Dr Football Podcast, Soriano said: “I have to say we are very excited, But I want to tell you honestly, that all the football additions or signing additions are taken through a football lens, not a marketing lens or celebrity lens.
“So we think Txiki [Begiristain] and Pep and the whole group, they think very carefully about the players that they need for the team and this is what they sign.
“In this case, it happens to be Haaland’s profile, I think you’re right that he’s developed his profile as a superstar, but this is not the reason we signed him. We signed him because we think that he’s going to score a lot of goals and he has the intelligence to adapt to our system. The system is very complex.”
He continued: “If you see the intensity in the way that they discuss how they’re going to play, it’s very sophisticated. You need to be a very sophisticated player to be able to adapt to this, and we think Haaland will do. But I promise you it’s a football decision. It’s not a marketing or celebrity decision.”
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