The arrivals of Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri are just what the striker needs to fire Pep Guardiola's side to world domination
Erling Haaland spent the first part of his summer eating lobster while away on holiday. Then he munched Norway's World Cup qualifying opponents, scoring in the huge win over Italy before grabbing the only strike against Estonia to put his country well on track to qualify for their first global tournament since 1998.
Now, the striker will be licking his lips for another feast of goals at the Club World Cup, especially after Manchester City have assembled a deadly new attack around him by signing Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri amid a £110 million ($149m) spending spree.
Haaland's two main passions are eating and scoring, but on the pitch he was made to go hungry towards the end of last season. He missed six weeks of action for City after suffering an ankle injury in late March, and when he returned in May, he seemed to lack his usual sharpness and, most worryingly, his appetite for finding the net.
Haaland failed to score in his first three games back and turned down the chance to take a penalty in the FA Cup final, leaving Wayne Rooney to suggest: "Maybe the thought of taking a penalty at Wembley might have been too much for him."
The striker was back on spot-kick duty in the final game of the season at Fulham as he helped clinch City's place in next season's Champions League. However, finishing third in the Premier League did not salvage what was "a catastrophic season", in Haaland's own words. But now he has got his appetite back at international level, the Club World Cup offers him and City the perfect platform to put things right.
Getty'Not good enough'
Haaland had a massively disappointing season on both a collective and individual level. Having won the treble in his first season at City, retained the Premier League title in his second while collecting a second-successive Golden Boot, he ended his third season without any trophies at all while finishing third in the league's top-scorer rankings behind Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak. His tally of 22 league goals was the joint-lowest of his career, and although 31 strikes in all competitions is a tally most strikers would be pleased with, Haaland could not hide his dissatisfaction with his achievements, as well as those of his team.
"I haven’t been good enough. I haven't helped the team enough," he told. "In the end, we haven’t been good enough. Every single one of us hasn't been good enough and we haven't been at our best, so when you are not at your best you aren't going to win games in this country because it's so hard. This season has been tough. It is not nice to lose so many games. It is boring and not fun. The club has set the standards so the bar is so high that this season is a catastrophic season."
It was just not the results that frustrated the striker, as Haaland also pointed at a lack of desire across the squad, saying that held City back more than they should have done while refusing to blame the many injuries they suffered; "You can find excuses. Injuries, many injuries at bad times, but in the end we haven't been performing well enough. We haven't had fully the hunger inside of us. Sometimes you just need to run. We haven’t run enough this season."
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Even with his injury problems and his reduced goal count, Haaland was still one of City's best players last season. The problem was that the other usual suspects did not turn up. Phil Foden experienced a huge drop off from the form which made him the PFA Player of the Season in 2023-24, as he scored just seven Premier League goals and provided two assists compared to his 19 goals and 11 assists the previous year.
Kevin De Bruyne's final campaign with City was handicapped by injuries as the man who used to be Haaland's biggest provider of goals endured his second-least productive season of his 10 at City. The Belgian set up just one goal for the Norwegian all season, and given that he set up four goals for Haaland in one game at Luton Town the previous campaign, it is no wonder Haaland failed to fire at his usual terrifying rate.
Bernardo Silva's Premier League goal contributions dropped from 15 in 2023-24 to just eight while Julian Alvarez's 20 goal contributions left with him to Atletico Madrid. His replacement, Omar Marmoush, only arrived in late January, and although his seven goals were welcome, he didn't register a single assist. Rodri, responsible for 17 goals and assists in 2023-24 on his way to winning the Ballon d'Or, missed almost the entire season with a serious knee injury.
Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZNStream nowManchester City FCCherki ready to thrill
The cavalry has now arrived in the form of new signings, and if Haaland found last season "boring", he has a lot to be excited about in regards to what's coming next. City have been swift and decisive in the transfer market and snapped up three players who know how to create goals for others while also scoring a healthy amount themselves.
Cherki is the standout new arrival when it comes to supporting Haaland as he is the defacto replacement for De Bruyne. City fans might be understandably disappointed to have missed out on Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz, but Cherki is a thrilling prospect.
The France international first came to wider attention at the age of 16 when he became Lyon's youngest-ever scorer, and at one point was compared to Lionel Messi while being linked to Real Madrid. But after a couple of underwhelming seasons and failing to get on with certain coaches, he exploded into life last term, contributing to 31 goals in all competitions. Cherki scored eight times and set up another 11 in Ligue 1 despite a hugely disappointing season for his club, while he was even more impressive in the Europa League, contributing to 12 goals in his side's run to the quarter-finals before their agonising defeat to Manchester United, against whom he netted in both legs.
Manchester City FCAdding energy and goals
If Cherki is the rough diamond brought in to fill the boots of De Bruyne as City's primary playmaker, then Reijnders feels like the heir to Ilkay Gundogan. The German might have had an underwhelming second stint at the Etihad Stadium – which should not really have been surprising given the 34-year-old's age – but his feats from the previous years will never be forgotten.
Reijnders, by contrast, is in the prime of his career. He was named the Best Midfielder in Serie A last term as well as being included in the league's Team of the Season. He scored 15 times in all competitions while adding four assists for a struggling AC Milan side, and has worked hard on improving his productivity. That's good news for City as they look to ease the goal-scoring burden on Haaland, who scored triple the amount of league goals of his nearest challengers, Marmoush and Foden, this past season.
"I like to help the attackers, create chances and try to score a goal by myself sometimes. As a midfielder, it’s important to score goals as well," Reijnders explained. "Two years ago, I didn’t score that many goals and I worked on it that summer and seeing what I needed to do better in front of the goal. This season, it worked out and I got on the scoresheet more."
A self-described 'box-to-box' midfielder, Reijnders should help City recover the intensity they lost last year. In the words of City's new director of football, Hugo Viana: "Tijjani adds extra energy, composure and creativity to our midfield, and working with Pep and our coaches will only see him go from strength to strength."