Erling Haaland 2022: A transfer manifesto that could fire Man City to Champions League glory

In truth, 2022 hasn't been much better than 2021 or 2020.

The angst and desperation of rising Covid-19 cases and multiple national lockdowns have been replaced by surging energy bills and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's Russian army, sparking Europe's largest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Life isn't great for a depressingly large number of people right now.

In that light, football seems pretty irrelevant. But as Arrigo Sacchi once said, football is the most important of the least important things in life and as such, it can offer a welcome distraction from life's troubles.

The rest of 2022 promises to be an exciting one in the world of football, with a tight Premier League title race hotting up and a World Cup to look forward to in November.

The transfer window will be interesting too, with one man, in particular, dominating the headlines. Erling Haaland looks certain to leave Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City and Real Madrid are ready to fight for his signature.

At City Is Ours, we thought we'd put together a short manifesto of reasons why the 21-year-old goal machine should choose the Etihad Stadium over the Bernabeu.

Become a legend

At 21, Haaland is already one of the best strikers European football has seen this century and he would obviously score goals wherever he goes.

As was shown in Real Madrid's incredible Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday though, Los Blancos already have a world-class striker in Karim Benzema and in Kylian Mbappe, another likely on the way. Would he be guaranteed starts with those two around?

At City, Haaland would be the top dog in the striking department. Guardiola regularly admits his side need to sign an out-and-out