Manchester City are very much in the Premier League title race. You don’t just have to look at the table to make that assumption. Pep Guardiola promised the fans at the weekend, “we will be there,” although he did state that “we have to improve” to challenge Arsenal.
The player who will be most important to their title challenge is surely Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker has been the Premier League’s best goalscorer this season, with 17 goals in 19 games. He is largely unstoppable, only failing to score in five games.
Haaland goal record (timeless)
However, City don’t have a consistent goalscoring number nine aside from Haaland, so it is perhaps no surprise they have been linked with a striker in January.
Man City targeting Haaland understudy
Guardiola doesn’t really have any other true number nine aside from Haaland in his squad. Omar Marmoush can play the role, but he is arguably better playing as a second striker, and the same can be said for Phil Foden, who's even done it for England.
Yet, City could make a shock move for young Leeds United striker Harry Gray. According to a report from journalist Alan Nixon, the East Mancunian side are readying an offer to bring in a player who has shone in Leeds’ academy.
Harry-Gray
Despite 17-year-old Gray being so inexperienced, it might take a whopping £40m offer for the Whites to consider selling him. However, it is a price the Citizens may pay, with Nixon’s report suggesting he is a long-term target for Guardiola’s side.
Why Gray could be City’s new Haaland
There is no doubt that there is an element of risk to the signing of Gray, particularly if City were to do the deal at such a high price. He hasn’t had much of an opportunity at first-team level, making just one senior appearance for his boyhood club Leeds, which came last season.
Yet, there is no doubt he is a talented striker, the “real deal” according to Como scout Ben Mattinson. For Leeds’ academy this season, the 17-year-old has made 13 appearances across all competitions, bagging ten goals. That includes a hat-trick against Scunthorpe United in the National League Cup.
His hat-trick against the Iron was not the only impressive performance Gray has put in against a senior side this term. He bagged two goals in the EFL Trophy against Accrington Stanley, also winning three fouls and six duels.
Gray stats vs. Accrington Stanley
Stat
Touches
Tackle win rate
Duels won
Fouls won
Shots
Goals
Stats from Sofascore
Performances like that might certainly have piqued City’s interest in a young starlet like Gray. If he does join the club, then who better for him to learn from than Haaland? The City number nine is the “greatest goalscorer to ever play in English football,” according to Jamie Carragher.
erling-haaland-man-city-1
The Leeds academy graduate is a clinical striker already despite being so young, and Haaland was also ripping things up as a teenager.
In his early career, records tumbled at the hands of the Norwegian, including the fact that he became the fastest player to 10 or more Champions League goals.
There are certainly shades of Haaland when you think about the start Gray has made to his career. Of course, the homegrown Leeds star is not playing Champions League football week in, week out, but he is ripping it up at academy level and shining against senior sides, notably hailed as "one of England's best young prospects" by the aforementioned Mattinson.
Guardiola might well see the similarities in that sense. He likes to give opportunities to exceptional young talent, as we saw with Phil Foden. If Gray is a player City see as someone with lots of potential for the future, their manager would surely give him the opportunity.
Harry-Gray-Leeds
£40m is a huge investment, but Gray is a real talent, showing dominance in front of goal at a young age. That is certainly Haaland-esque, and if he has a career half as good as the Norwegian, he will be a huge success.
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