Erling Haaland can answer burning questions in Man City debut vs Club America as new era begins

Not since Pep Guardiola's second summer at Manchester City has there been so much overhaul in the transfer market. This year, four players have arrived, and five have left - all in important positions.

The external focus for this first pre-season game against Club America will naturally be on Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips, however the collective absence of Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Aleks Zinchenko may prove to be a culture shock as these were four players completely in tune with Guardiola's demands. The new boys will have to get up to speed quickly as a new era under Guardiola begins.

In a normal year, maybe fans would struggle to motivate themselves for a friendly halfway across the world against Club America, especially with the kick-off in the UK coming in the early hours. The focus of pre-season should always be on building fitness and implementing new ideas. But this is not a normal year.

With Erling Haaland's arrival, there are plenty of reasons to tune in for UK fans, with the Norwegian having plenty of questions to answer himself.

Will he start? How will he link up with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva? How quickly can City adapt back to playing with a number nine? Will Haaland be asked to come deep and help the build-up or will he simply be required for his finishing?

Everyone is set to analyse every touch of Haaland's, so maybe this fixture provides a chance for Julian Alvarez to introduce himself to City fans under the radar. He should be fitter than his teammates having played since February, and has looked sharp in training in the last two weeks.

It would make sense for him to share the central strike responsibilities with Haaland. Although if he was