After his poor performance in the Community Shield, Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero has intimated that Erling Haaland may need time to adjust to English football.
Following his £51 million signing from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer, the Norwegian striker arrived in the Premier League with a lot of excitement.
He struggled in Manchester City’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday, missing a sitter from only a few yards away in the closing stages.
However, Aguero, who scored 259 goals in 388 appearances for City, claimed that Haaland was “too used to Germany” and struggled against Liverpool’s great defender Virgil van Dijk.
‘He was too accustomed to Germany,’ stated Aguero on his Twitch channel.
‘Haaland assumed he was alone until Van Dijk appeared and said, ‘Welcome to the Premier League,” he added.
Haaland scored 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga games for Dortmund over two and a half seasons and has been tipped by bookies to finish as the Premier League’s top scorer in his debut season with City.
He’ll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sergio Aguero, who scored 23 league goals in his first season after joining from Atletico Madrid in 2011 and went on to become the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Aguero spent six seasons at the Etihad with Raheem Sterling, who assisted 19 of his City goals, and questioned the club’s choice to trade him to Chelsea this summer.
Sterling joined the Blues for £50 million after becoming dissatisfied with his lack of opportunities under Pep Guardiola.
‘I don’t comprehend the Sterling sale,’ Aguero stated. ‘They [City] make bizarre decisions at times.’
Julian Alvarez, 22, is hoping to fill Sterling’s shoes in Manchester. He arrived from River Plate for £14 million in January but was loaned back to the Argentine club in the second part of last season.
Unlike Haaland, Alvarez scored in the Community Shield despite City’s loss.
Aguero, who was forced to retire last year after only six months at Barcelona owing to heart concerns, briefly played alongside the attacker for Argentina.
‘Julian texted me to see how life was in Manchester,’ the 34-year-old revealed. ‘I warned him that he was going to be freezing!’