GIVEN how impressive Manchester City have been in recent times without a recognised a centre-forward, rumours of a Erling Haaland’s imminent transfer to the Etihad should send shivers up the spine of defenders everywhere.
It’s well known that the 21-year-old’s dad, Alf-Inge, played for City in the early 2000s and the reigning Premier League champions are one of very few clubs wealthy enough to afford such a high-profile talent.
Several respected sources believe Haaland could well be on his way to the Manchester this coming summer and the potential combination of prolific goalscorer and dominant team should have Dream Team gaffers salivating.
To whet the whistle further, we’ve worked out how many Dream Team points the Norwegian sensation would have racked up this season.
Before we get into it, a quick note on the methodology.
Our ratings providers WhoScored also use their complex algorithm to keep track of Borussia Dortmund’s progress so it was easy enough to work out Haaland’s hypothetical points from 7+ ratings and Star Man awards.
And of course goal, assist and booking statistics are freely available these days.
Without further ado, we can reveal that Haaland would currently be on exactly 200 points at this stage of the season.
To put that into context, only Mohamed Salah (£7.9m) and Harry Kane (£7.6m) have more points among forwards.
Virgil van Dijk (£7.0m), Riyad Mahrez (£7.2m), Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) are the superior assets from other positions.
However, it’s worth noting that Haaland has been plagued by frustrating injury setbacks this term.
In fact, the imposing youngster has started just 14 of Dortmund’s 27 Bundesliga fixtures in 2021/22.
Such is Haaland’s fearsome talent, he’s averaging a goal or assist every 61.5 minutes in the league this season.
Despite plenty of time on the sidelines, he’s scored 23 goals in all competitions.
Because of his brutal efficiency, Haaland would be averaging 8.7 points-per-game in Dream Team this campaign.
For comparison, Salah averages 7.9 points-per-game – the most of any asset to have played at least three games in 2021/22.
Essentially, if Haaland had been fit and available all season long (and were he eligible) he would almost certainly be in a bracket of his own in terms of Dream Team points.
Dare we say Cristiano Ronaldo’s (£7.4m) record for most points in a single season will be under threat if Haaland does join City and shakes off his injury niggles?
