Haaland warned to drop ego before meeting Guardiola

Norwegian star, Erling Haaland’s move to Manchester City has been a well talked about transfer news by many pundits this season.

It doesn’t help now that his new club, Manchester City are now Champions of England as all discussion will certainly be on his impact to the team and what he will offer differently in Guardiola system.

That aside though, Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has suggested the former Borrusia Dortmund star, take a page from Jack Grealish book in his first season rather than expect to walk straight into the team and start putting up numbers.

Grealish signed for City in a deal worth £100million last summer, but so far hasn’t lived up to the expectations as he has been faced online and in the media with criticisms since he had failed to replicate the form he showed at Aston Villa.

Ferdinand feels that could be the same for the Norwegian, and has advised the youngster to instead show the same levels of humility Grealish portrayed.

Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand revealed the chat he held with Grealish who revealed how difficult it was to play for Guardiola.

“He told me there’s so much more to think about going into a team that’s prepared by Pep Guardiola. You give him a year, now he’s probably got a better understanding of it,” he explained.

“That’s why next season we’ll see the Jack we know he can be. There could be a bedding-in period where we don’t see the Haaland we expect to see immediately.”

The United icon further added: “What Pep’s had with City when big players have come in, they get a bedding-in period. It’s an understanding: this is hard, you don’t hit the ground running all the time.

“The biggest part of that is the humility of the players that struggle. They don’t moan and kick up a fuss. That’s where Haaland has to play his part if it doesn’t go right. Suppress any ego… the bigger picture is not disturbing the morale of the squad.”

Seeing Pep Guardiola on the touchline, it isn’t hard to imagine how difficult it will be playing under the City boss, and most important is how the manager values character and determination. This, Erling Haaland will need to show in order to succeed under the Spaniard.