Erling Haaland to Man City: Remembering battle vs Virgil van Dijk

Erling Haaland will be a Manchester City player next season.

On Monday evening, the Norwegian’s move from Borussia Dortmund to English shores was given the ‘here we go’ treatment by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

Haaland has already passed medical tests at City and will sign a five-year deal after his €75 million release clause is activated.

The acquisition of the 21-year-old will make the current Premier League champions an even more frightening prospect next season.

Haaland is already one of the best in the business and will no doubt thrive in a team that creates a ridiculous amount of goalscoring chances each week.

The Leeds-born striker is impossible to stop on his day, as he’s tall, strong as an ox, lightning-quick for a man of his height and brilliant on the ball.

Premier League defenders are going to struggle against him, that’s for sure.

But there’s one man currently operating in the English top-flight who’s already shown Haaland who’s boss and that is Virgil van Dijk.

When Liverpool played Red Bull Salzburg in the 2019/20 Champions League, the Rolls-Royce of a defender dealt with Haaland in full flow very easily.

The Inside Anfield video on the match provided the perfect angle of their battle…

Big Virg doing what he does best, making world-class forwards look foolish. No one does it quite like him and it’s why many believe he’s the best defender on the planet.

Liverpool went on to win the match at the Red Bull Arena 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah.

Jurgen Klopp’s side also won the reverse fixture at Anfield 4-3, although they did surrender a 3-0 lead.

Haaland was the man who netted Salzburg’s equaliser, but it was Salah who struck the decisive blow with 20 minutes remaining.