Liverpool legend and football pundit, Jamie Carragher expressed his opinion about Manchester City’s Erling Haaland swoop. He aired his thoughts through Sky Sports following the official unveiling of Haaland by City on Monday. Carragher feels it’s ‘fantastic’ to have one of the emerging star players on the planet in the Premier League as he is surely going to spice things up for the teams competing in it.
Carragher pointed out the upcoming challenges the Premier League teams will face when they will meet Manchester City – a team which had done so well without a central striker. The Liverpool legend didn’t hesitate to uphold Pep Guardiola’s brilliance in steering a ‘striker deficit’ Man City side to the Premier League title. After securing the services of a world-class striker, no doubt it will be a significant addition to this formidable City side.
"“It’s a worry for the rest of the Premier League,” Carragher said with a smile.“We are talking about one of the world’s greats even at such a young age, but I don’t think anyone should be raising the white flag too early because it’s going to be really interesting how he fits into the team.“Pep Guardiola hasn’t really used a central striker in the last couple of years and he’s still been very successful.“So, it will be really interesting to see how he settles but from the Premier League’s point of view, I think it is fantastic that we’ve got one of the world’s leading players right now joining our league."
The English football pundit also pointed out the talent and goalscoring prowess Erling Haaland possess at such a young age while most of his years will be spent and enjoyed in the Premier League.
"“That doesn’t always happen, certainly at a young age, and a lot of his best years are going to be in the Premier League.“So, it’ll be really exciting for everyone to watch but it’s obviously going to be a tough proposition trying to stop Manchester City.”"
While Jamie Carragher made some intriguing remarks praising City and their new signing, he had to say something contradictory to his earlier statements in order to support his position as a football pundit. He explained that the signing of a superstar like Haaland won’t guarantee success for Manchester City as Haaland is expected to take some time to settle with the City play.
"“They have so many players now who don’t play through the middle. They keep the ball so well and they control the game so well. Maybe they will lose a little bit of that,” he said.“So, I don’t think it’s a forgone conclusion that means City are going to win everything.“They have a great team and a great manager, and I actually think Haaland coming in won’t make that much of a difference in terms of how many points they get. They always get in the mid-90s for points anyway, which is a remarkable feat.“He may have been brought in just to make that difference in those games where they just fell short, maybe more in the Champions League than the Premier League actually.“He’ll change, he’ll evolve, he’s still a lot to learn, he’s a young player. He’ll learn off one of the greatest coaches in world football. He’ll bring things to his game.“But he should also remember not to change too much. He is what he is. Powerful, his pace, the goals he gets…“That’s what I’m intrigued with, how he fits into that Pep Guardiola style which is a bit more slow and technical than the end-to-end type of football you see in the Bundesliga.”"