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At one point last spring, Erling Haaland had a meeting with Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić at the Bayern Munich sporting director’s abode.
The secret summit was likely the final determination that the Bavarians would not be able able to match the financial package that Manchester City was going to offer the then-Borussia Dortmund star — but it was also proof that Bayern Munich was at least in the game until the final innings.
In Champions League action, Haaland poured in five goals to power City to a 7-0 victory over an overwhelmed and flat RB Leipzig side. The victory pushed Manchester City into the UCL quarterfinals, but no one — absolutely no one — will remember anything except Haaland’s dominant performance.
Some clueless doubters chided Haaland as just another mid-level attacker from the Bundesliga, but now, the Norwegian star has 39 goals and five assists in 36 games across all competitions.
Not bad for a graduate of the Farmers League, huh?
Anyway, the purpose of this post isn’t to praise Haaland for destroying everything in his path like Godzilla, but to just ask you all to allow yourself a brief few seconds to ponder what might have been. How would the Bavarians look if Brazzo’s famed PowerPoint deck had been able to sway Haaland, like it has done with nearly everyone else?
Imagine Haaland being the target of crosses coming in from Bayern Munich’s lightning-fast wingers or being the recipient of deft passing from Thomas Müller and Jamal Musiala.
What a sight it would be…
Maybe next time, though. Scoring all those goals at Manchester City has to get boring after a while, right?
