Guardiola was of the belief that City required tinkerin. His squad needed, if not more quality, then a new energy.
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As impactful as his signings have been on the pitch, they have had just as much of an effect in livening up a dressing room so used to winning, keeping players on their toes.
Yet even Haaland has a supplementary function of giving the City players something fresh to focus on behind the scenes.
They have already taken to singing the chorus of a song created at his former club Dortmund, serenading him as he gave a speech at dinner in Houston last week.
‘Guardiola is a bit crazy and I like that,’ Haaland said. ‘I cannot tell you too much about this after one week but I’ve been training well and I’m ready for what is next.’
Guardiola wants players who can integrate without any issues and has seen that with Haaland. He credited his bigger stars, especially the ‘humble’ Kevin De Bruyne, for leaving any ego to the side in welcoming someone who will steal the majority of the focus. That humility, he believes, is what makes City what they are.
There were tears when Oleksandr Zinchenko left the camp and moved to Arsenal. Gabriel Jesus had already gone the same way and Raheem Sterling departed for Chelsea.
City recognised that all three wanted more guarantees over game-time and sought to secure market value for them. The trio sold for a combined £125m, with a cluster of youngsters going for around £30m, too.
That might be slightly different this year, with the brutish goalscoring machine that is Erling Haaland marching through the doors for £51million and scoring within 12 minutes of his debut against Bayern Munich during an on-off, weather-affected friendly on Sunday.
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