MANCHESTER CITY are adding Erling Haaland to their formidable front line next season.
Pep Guardiola’s side were linked with Tottenham talisman Harry Kane last summer, only to fail in their pursuit.
Erling Haaland is set to bang them in at City Credit: AP
Harry Kane appears set to stay at Spurs Credit: Getty Spurs drove a hard bargain, demanding £150million for their 28-year-old star striker with three years left on his deal.
City chose to wait it out, and will now end up with Haaland a year later for just £51m… as well as probably another Premier League title in the meantime.
Fans of other Prem clubs are fearing the prospect of City with Haaland, as the 21-year-old readies himself to pen a five-year deal.
But will City, at least in the short term, be better off than they would have been with Kane?
We asked our pals over at Opta for all the numbers, and now we can share with you what they say.
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Man City CONFIRM Haaland transfer after triggering £51m release clause STAYING READY Kane has become associated with persistent injuries over the years, particularly in his troublesome ankles.
But since Haaland joined Dortmund, Kane has actually been the more durable of the two.
Kane has played 78 times since his younger counterpart moved to Germany in January 2020, while Haaland has managed 66 appearances.
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In almost 1,600 fewer minutes, however, Haaland has banged in 18 more goals.
The Norwegian has scored 61 goals for Dortmund, compared to Kane’s 43 for Spurs in the same timeframe.
ON THE SPOT Man City have struggled to find a regular penalty taker in recent years, with a number of stars having missed.
It wouldn’t be a problem with either of these strikers, however, with Haaland having scored seven for Dortmund, while Kane has six for Spurs during the same period.
Kane takes 3.6 shots per 90, with Haaland slightly behind on 3.5.
The younger man possesses a far better conversion rate, however, scoring 29.9 per cent of his attempts in comparison to Kane’s 15.8 per cent.
Haaland takes 87 minutes per goal on average, with Kane on 159 minutes per goal.
FOX OUTSIDE THE BOX Where Kane does trump Haaland is in his overall contribution outside of the box.
The England captain has assisted 22 goals since January 2020 while creating 1.3 chances per game.
While not as good, Haaland’s numbers are also impressive.
He has laid on 15 assists, creating one chance per game.
Kane’s fingerprints tend to be found all over matches in which he has played, averaging 42.9 touches compared to Haaland’s 32.
Far more of the former RB Salzburg forward’s come in the penalty area, with 6.9 in the box compared to Kane’s 4.8.
AIR WE GO The Spurs star tends to put himself about more, winning 5.3 aerial duels per game compared to Haaland’s three.
Although in this period Kane has been asked to compete for a lot more headers, having won only 41 per cent of his attempts compared to Haaland’s 53 per cent.
As a Premier League striker, you don’t get any finer than Harry Kane at present when it comes to his all round game.
But with his numbers already frighteningly good, albeit not achieved in the Premier League, Haaland is undoubtedly the man of tomorrow for City.
And scarily for their rivals, very soon he will be their man of today.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk