Record-breaking Haaland is the perfection of Manchester City’s vision

As the elvish Norse phenomenon surpasses Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, this is the culmination of perhaps the most audacious and complex project undertaken in English football

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 03: Manchester City striker Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring the 2nd City goal and his record breaking 35th Premier League goal of the season during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on May 03, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The most notable thing, watching them all back, is how simple it looks. Elementary tap-ins at the far post. Slotted finishes into an empty net with the goalkeeper sprawled several yards away like a battlefield casualty. Two-yard headers levered from the shoulders of punier, more beta males. Penalties dispatched with all the certainty of a bow and arrow. These are the goals that gild the legend: the ballast, the meat and potatoes, the dull matter of which Premier League record goal hauls are made.

And when we say simple, we should not labour under any delusions that what Erling Haaland does is easy. On the contrary: this is the culmination of perhaps the most audacious and complex project undertaken in English football. A club purchased and refitted with the sole aim of assembling and training a team whose sole aim is to deliver the ball into dangerous attacking areas, again and again and again and again.