Arsene Wenger has hailed Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland for adapting to the Premier League instantly, saying it is the mark of a truly exceptional player.
Wenger spoke about Haaland yesterday to beIN SPORTS ahead of the Ballon d’Or ceremony. The striker missed out on the award, with Lionel Messi picking up his eighth gong.
Haaland may have missed out on the Ballon d’Or, but the season he had in 2022/23 was truly incredible. The Norwegian signed for City from Borussia Dortmund for £51 million, and made an instant impact.
Most people expected him to score a lot of goals, coming into a team as creative as City’s. But few really foresaw him scoring 52 across all competitions.
That incredible goal haul landed him the Gerd Muller Trophy at last night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.
It is amazing to think someone could score that many goals in their first season in a new league. In the eyes of Wenger, Haaland’s feat was incredible…
Arsene Wenger blown away by Erling Haaland’s rapid adaptation to the Premier League for Manchester City
For most players, there is a settling-in period when joining a new club. It often takes time to get used to new tactics, teammates and opponents.
But Haaland hit the ground running straight away, and this is something that has really impressed Wenger.
He said: “Haaland has shown you can transfer the quality of another league into the Premier League, without any adaptation and that means you need to be exceptional to do that.
“Players usually take six or seven months to adapt to the pace and the quality of a game in the Premier League.
“He has done that from the first day.”
Wenger also praised Haaland’s humility, believing the star is ‘not a victim of modern problems’ in the game.
Haaland’s adaptation has been abnormal
It really is not all that common for players from foreign leagues to instantly hit the ground running when they come to the Premier League.
The standard of the English top-flight is arguably the highest in the world, and it can be a pretty unforgiving division.
But Haaland has made a mockery of it so far. Undoubtedly, he is helped by being surrounded by world-class players. But it was still not a guarantee that Haaland would perform as well as he has done.
It is a testament to his quality and his work ethic that he has made it look so easy.
And he deserves credit for the way he has started the 2023/24 season, given his accomplishments last term and the pressure to deliver again.
While he did have a little dip recently, Haaland has been brilliant again, scoring 13 goals in just 15 games.
