Erling Haaland will wear the number nine shirt for Manchester City after the club confirmed the news today.
Haaland signed for Man City this summer from Borussia Dortmund for a bargain price of £51m after the Premier League champions paid the striker’s release clause as reported by Sky Sports. The Norwegian is ready to take the next step in his short career in England and will be looking to use his goals to guide City towards every major trophy during the upcoming campaign.
Whilst at Dortmund, the 21-year-old donned the club’s number nine shirt and it is the striker’s number for the national team also. Upon his arrival in Manchester, Gabriel Jesus was the owner of the shirt but the Brazilian’s move to Arsenal has now coincidentally freed it up for the new man to take – which he has.
The shirt has previously been worn by hugely popular figures at Man City such as Francis Lee, Brian Kidd, Joe Royle, Trevor Francis, Paul Dickov, Niall Quinn and Paulo Wanchope; and there is no doubt that Haaland’s name will be on that list once his time in Manchester is up.
It's official! 9???@ErlingHaaland | #ManCity pic.twitter.com/XR1KTub0sZ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 9, 2022
Upon receiving the shirt, Haaland said via the Daily Mirror: “I’m delighted to have been presented with the number 9. It’s been part of my story over the last two years, both at club level and with the national team and I’m looking forward to continuing that at City. It’s a shirt that every striker aspires to and to wear it at one of the best clubs in the world is a dream come true. I can’t wait to get started.”
Haaland flew into Manchester yesterday after a break in Marbella and will have his fitness assessed by City’s conditioning team before joining the rest of Pep Guardiola’s squad as they prepare for the club’s tour to the USA later this month. The Norwegian striker will be looking to make his mark in England straight away and it begins the minute the striker hops on that plane to America.