Is Erling Haaland the final piece of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City jigsaw?

Pep Guardiola said last year that scoring goals is the “most difficult thing in football”.

It is no wonder then that the Manchester City manager was so keen to bring Erling Haaland to the Etihad Stadium, as the Norwegian has made the task look easy throughout his young career.

An agreement has been reached in principle for Haaland to join City from July 1 after the Premier League champions triggered his 60million euros (£51.25million) release clause from Borussia Dortmund.

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His signing concludes City’s long search for an out-and-out striker, having failed in their attempts to extract Harry Kane from Tottenham last summer.

It is now two years since Guardiola’s side have boasted a regular specialist in that position, with record goalscorer Sergio Aguero enduring an injury-hit season before leaving the club 12 months ago.

They have certainly not fared badly in that time, but the addition of Haaland has the feel of a final piece of the jigsaw being put into place.

Haaland has big boots to fill in those of Aguero but he has already proven he can deliver under pressure and at the highest level, having netted a remarkable 85 times in 88 appearances for Dortmund.

After hitting the ground running with a hat-trick on debut, virtually all his prolific two-and-a-half-year spell with the Bundesliga side was played in the shadow of speculation over his future.

He has long been regarded as one of the hottest properties in the game and a move to City, or another European powerhouse such as Real Madrid or Barcelona, had seemed inevitable for some time.

How Manchester United might be kicking themselves now, seeing a player they were heavily linked with themselves prior to his now-bargain