Why did Erling Haaland join Man City? Norwegian striker explains reasons for £51m transfer

Erling Haaland has admitted that he didn't need convincing to join Manchester City after deciding to leave Borussia Dortmund. The 22-year-old had the pick of Europe's elite teams when he made it clear that he wanted a new challenge midway through last season. A few months and £51 million ($60m) later, he was on his way to Manchester City, the side his father - Alfie - played for in the first few years of Erling's life.

Haaland senior's time at the club was one of the reasons for him choosing to make the move to the North West but the chance to work under the current master of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola, was an even greater motivation.

Why Man City for Haaland?

In an interview with FourFourTwo, Haaland had plenty of praise for the former Barcelona manager for both his quality of coaching and the style of play he has adopted during his coaching career.

“Well, Pep didn’t have to sell the club to me, that’s for sure,” said the young striker. “He didn’t have to sell anything. For starters, he’s a special trainer and that was so important to me.

"We all know what he has done for his clubs, but also for players and for the game in general. That’s something I want to be part of. I think we can have a lot of fun together.”

Praise for the club itself too

While Haaland will have been too young to remember his father sporting the blue shirt of Manchester City, he will have still found out lots about the club whilst making his decision. It is a very different beast playing at the Eithad now than it was at Maine Road, when Alfie played there 20 years ago, but the values are still very similar.

“It’s huge,” added Haaland junior. “The facilities around us, the staff, the people around the club, it’s a huge organisation. It’s a very professional club, it does everything in a good way to help the players which I really like.”