The war of words between Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella shows no sign of abating.
Haaland was critical of the Spaniard when speaking after scoring in the 2-0 win over the Blues last weekend. In a post-match interview, Haaland said:
“He is a funny man. Last season he asked for my shirt. And this summer he sings a song about me.”
The song in question includes the line: “Haaland’s trembling, Cucurella’s coming”, but when asked if the Chelsea fullback would be singing about him again in the future, Haaland laughed and said:
“We’ll see about that. Maybe.”
Haaland does most of his talking on the pitch
While the song was probably conceived as a bit of fun, Haaland clearly took it to heart and he was undoubtedly extra-motivated to score at Stamford Bridge last Sunday.
The Norwegian had to shrug off Cucurella in order to score City’s opening goal. He held off the Spaniard before chipping the ball over Robert Sanchez into the goal.
City need to sign a backup striker
Having Haaland in the squad guarantees goals and, while his form for the club over the past two seasons has been extraordinary, they can’t rely on him to score in every match.
The forward spent a month out with a foot injury last campaign, and he did suffer a minor knock heading into this season too. Considering that Julian Alvarez is no longer at the Etihad, with the Argentine having left to join Atletico Madrid, manager Pep Guardiola could do with a replacement.
Signing a top-class striker, who is happy to be a backup, is a tough task but there are options out there. At the moment, it appears City have identified Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi as a potential target.
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here