Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel believes Manchester City's Erling Haaland will be "very motivated" against his former club in the Champions League.

The Norway international moved to the Premier League champions for a £51.2million fee in the transfer market, quickly adjusting to life in England with three goals in three top-flight appearances.

City's star striker will be looking to transfer that form onto the continental stage when the Champions League begins next month, the start of a frantic period with the six group games condensed into a nine-week period due to the World Cup.

Drawn alongside former employers Dortmund, as well as Sevilla and Copenhagen, Haaland will have an immediate opportunity to bite the hand that used to feed him – and Kobel warned he will "definitely" perform.

"A small advantage? I think it's the same for Erling Haaland as it is for me," he said.

"So, I'm sure he knows me very well, I know him relatively well. I'm sure he will come back very, very motivated.

"And he will definitely perform well – it's always the case against your old club. But as I said, we will make it as difficult as possible for him and we want to win these games."

Haaland has a stellar record in the competition, netting 23 goals from his time with Dortmund and Salzburg for an average of 1.42 goals per game.

City have won each of their past eight Champions League home games against German opponents, meanwhile, scoring a combined 39 goals and conceding nine.

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's acquisition of Erling Haaland demonstrates that the Premier League champions are one of Europe's elite destinations.

City reportedly saw off competition from the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to sign the striker in a £51.2million (€60m) deal in May, and Haaland has started brightly, scoring three goals in his first three league games.

The Norway international is just the third player to score on both of his first two away trips in the Premier League for City, after Emmanuel Adebayor and Emile Mpenza, having followed up his opening-game double at West Ham with a goal in a 3-3 draw with Newcastle United on Sunday.

City's all-time record goalscorer Sergio Aguero, meanwhile, is the only other player to score twice on his Premier League debut for the club, having done so against Swansea City in August 2011.

Asked whether the former Borussia Dortmund forward represented the first established world class star to join City on his watch, Guardiola told BBC's Football Focus: "Yeah, maybe it's right. We cannot deny how incredible his numbers and talent are.

"From what I saw of him so far, he's a huge competitor in every training session, he's incredibly focused to do it, there's no doubt about that.

"But we had a lot of legends here, whose contribution has been [important] to the way we are right now. Sergio, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, David Silva, many of these."

Having lifted the Premier League trophy four times in his six full seasons in England, Guardiola suggested City can now attract players who would previously have preferred huge European clubs such as Bayern, Madrid or Barcelona.

"You're right, maybe we could not do it or they choose another club, because the charisma of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid was higher than us," he added.

"In the highest [level] of Europe, we are new, just one decade, and they have long, long histories.

"And maybe you're right. We know the most followed strikers or players now come here, that is the proof that we have done really well.

"I remember in pre-season, in the [United] States five years or six years ago, there were few blue shirts in the stands. These last games against Bayern Munich and [Club] America [in July], there was a lot.

"People follow the winners and we won a lot in these last years, and people support us around the world, which is incredible. It's a big honour."

Barcelona and Manchester City drew 3-3 in a thrilling friendly at Camp Nou as Premier League-linked Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both bagged for the hosts.

Chelsea-linked Aubameyang should have given his side an early lead, but his close-range header from a Sergi Roberto cross was straight at Stefan Ortega.

The Spanish side started the game impressively but fell behind after 21 minutes. City new boy Julian Alvarez took advantage of a mistake from Barca keeper Inaki Pena to prod home. 

The lead lasted just eight minutes though, as Aubameyang made up for his earlier miss with a back-post volley that slipped underneath Ortega.

City should have restored their advantage early in the second half, with Alvarez missing a great chance to bag his second of the game after a couple of attempts were thwarted before Riyad Mahrez blazed wide.

De Jong, a target this window for the visitors' city rivals Manchester United, put Barca 2-1 up after 66 minutes with a smart finish past Ortega.

Pep Guardiola's men pegged them back moments later though, with youngster Cole Palmer tapping in at the back post after a powerful cross from Joao Cancelo.

Xavi's team were again in front with 11 minutes left as Memphis Depay found acres of space in the box to smash the ball into the back of the net.

They would not see out the remaining minutes for the victory though, as Andreas Christensen fouled Erling Haaland in the box before Mahrez lashed home the resulting penalty to earn his side a share of the spoils.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has cited "insanely good" Karim Benzema as inspiration as he vows to never stop improving at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland has made a solid start to life in England since his £51million (€60m) move from Borussia Dortmund, scoring three goals in as many Premier League games for the reigning champions.

City pipped some of the world's biggest clubs in the race to secure the services of the Norway international, including reigning LaLiga and Champions League winners Real Madrid.

Madrid talisman Benzema played an instrumental role during their successful 2021-22 season - top-scoring in both competitions along the way - while he recently surpassed Raul (323) as the club's second-leading marksman of all-time behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (450).

The 34-year-old appears certain to be in the running for the top prize at this year's Ballon d'Or awards, and his recent exploits have provided inspiration for a player 12 years his junior.

"I don’t know what will happen, but it must always be about learning, about developing," Haaland told FourFourTwo. "You can never stop looking for new ways to become better.

"Look at Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He's 34 now and suddenly, he's developed into an even better player over the last couple of years – that's insanely good. I want to always do that."

 

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has revealed the Bundesliga giants held discussions with Erling Haaland before the striker's blockbuster move to Manchester City.

One of the most significant deals of the ongoing transfer window saw the former Borussia Dortmund striker swap Germany for England for a reported fee of £51million (€60m).

Like Dortmund, Bayern also saw their talismanic centre-forward depart the Bundesliga this window, with Robert Lewandowski heading to Barcelona.

And sporting director Salihamidzic says the club held talks with Haaland over a potential move for the 22-year-old, who he does not blame for choosing "something that he thinks is better for him".

Speaking to Bild, Salihamidzic said: "We had some discussions. We had things in mind that could be implemented for us. In the end, it didn't work out for various reasons."

Bayern were also linked with a move for Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo amid speculation that the Portugal skipper is keen on a move away from Old Trafford.

However, Salihamidzic says a deal was "out of the question".

"When you see now how our attack – even without Robert Lewandowski – is occupied, it is simply difficult from both a sporting and financial point of view," he added.

"[You have] eight players for the four positions. We have seasoned top players who are in the best age of football."

Salihamidzic also believes mistakes were made in the handling of negotiations that culminated in David Alaba's departure to Real Madrid, admitting he wishes he could have done things differently.

The defender's 12-year stint with the Bavarian giants came to an end at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, as the club failed to reach an agreement with the Austria international over a new deal.

"The supervisory board had concerns about making extraordinary contracts during this time," Salihamidzic said. "We still wanted to save face and give David great appreciation.

"We really tried everything. We really wanted to keep David. But it was, it has to be said, a difficult time. 

"In retrospect, I don't know if I would have done it again with such a deserving player."

Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland scored as Manchester City came from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw in Sunday's Premier League thriller with Newcastle United.

The reigning champions had started their latest title defence with back-to-back wins without conceding and took a fifth-minute lead at St James' Park through Ilkay Gundogan.

However, Miguel Almiron levelled up with a goal awarded after a VAR check and Callum Wilson had Newcastle – themselves still unbeaten – in front prior to half-time.

Kieran Trippier's stunning free-kick put Newcastle further ahead, but Haaland pulled one back and Silva equalised soon after to ensure the points were shared.

Newcastle had kept back-to-back clean sheets but were caught cold early on, with Gundogan left in plenty of space to control Silva's clipped pass and fire home.

Kevin De Bruyne was twice denied by Nick Pope, though Newcastle levelled up when Almiron met Saint-Maximin's cross with his thigh and bundled past Ederson.

After Almiron's celebrations were cut short by an offside flag, a VAR check determined Joao Cancelo had kept the Newcastle attacker onside and the goal was allowed to stand.

The hosts led by the interval through Wilson's well-taken strike past Ederson following more good work from Saint-Maximin.

Pope produced a fine fingertip stop to help Haaland's shot onto the post early in the second half, shortly before Trippier's sublime 30-yard free-kick found the top-left corner.

City gave themselves hope thanks to Haaland's volley after anticipating Rodri's knock-down inside the box.

After Haaland uncharacteristically missed a one-on-one chance, City were back on level terms when De Bruyne cut open Newcastle's defence and Silva calmly slotted past Pope.

That set up a tense final 25 minutes, in which Trippier was shown a red card for a cynical challenge on De Bruyne before the decision was downgraded to yellow, though there was to be no winning goal.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp thinks it is "crazy" how quickly critics were on the backs of Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland in pre-season.

Uruguay striker Nunez joined the Reds from Benfica in a transfer potentially worth £85million (€100m) in June, while Manchester City sealed a reported £51m (€60m) deal with Borussia Dortmund for Haaland a month earlier.

Both major investments were seen as deals that could widen the gap between them and the rest of the Premier League, though each player has courted criticism.

For Nunez, the flak arrived as early as his first pre-season game after missing a big chance in a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Haaland was then ridiculed for a difficult day against the Reds as Klopp's side won the Community Shield at the end of July.

Nunez scored in that win over City before coming off the bench to find the back the net and provide an assist for Mohamed Salah in a 2-2 draw at Fulham, while Haaland marked his Premier League debut with a double in a win at West Ham.

For Klopp, the desperation tp write players off is unhelpful and unfair.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Monday's clash with Crystal Palace, Klopp said: "Five weeks ago, when we started pre-season and [Nunez] had his first game and it didn't look great from the outside world.

"Not for us, but it's crazy how quick we judge people… wow!

"Imagine if somebody did that to us and said, 'First day of work, it didn't work out. Go home, we never want to see you again! And you don't get a second chance by the way' – we would have all been long gone! No chance.

"Everybody can now see, 'Ah he's a proper striker' – so good for us and good for him.

"He's a handful and is a different type to what we had. He's very lively and very energetic. Physically he's really strong and technically he's really good, that obviously goes together with being more settled and confident and more secure in yourself in a new environment.

"You can't say, 'Come on, you have to give me 100 per cent immediately' – you have to develop it and that's what we're doing at the moment and in a good way.

"It's funny as well, we won against Manchester City the week before the season and everybody was asking, 'Will Haaland score this and that?'

"A week is like 10 years in football!"

Klopp has had to contend with the disruption of several injuries already, but he reiterated the Reds are not planning to go into the transfer market.

"If there was the right player and an opportunity, we would have done it, we would do it, but I don't see it because we had a lot of conversations already and it doesn't look like something will happen," he added.

"I'm happy with the strength, size and quality of my squad but we have injuries. There are plenty of solutions for it. One of them is the transfer market, but that only makes sense if you can bring in the right player.

"All the other solutions are inside the squad. We have too many injuries, that's clear. Naby [Keita] will be back for Monday and Kostas [Tsimikas] will train for the first time, so he might be back as well."

The second Saturday of the new Premier League campaign did not disappoint, serving up a thrilling comeback, a spectacular home debut and a familiar sinking feeling for Manchester United supporters.

If last week's 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion represented a baptism of fire for Erik ten Hag, United's trip to Brentford provided further despair as the dismal Red Devils hit a 30-year low.

There was more joy for rivals Manchester City as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, while Gabriel Jesus made good on his pre-season promise with a dominant performance against Leicester City.

Here, Stats Perform trawls through Opta's data to bring you some of the best numbers from the day's Premier League action.

Brentford 4-0 Manchester United: Ten Hag matches unwanted Chapman record against brilliant Bees

Where do you start with this one? New United boss Ten Hag was left in no doubt regarding the side's problems when a Pascal Gross double sent them crashing to an opening-day defeat last week.

But not even the most pessimistic United follower could have predicted their collapse in west London, as Ten Hag became the first Red Devils manager to lose his first two games at the helm since John Chapman in November 1921.

Things got off to a dreadful start when David de Gea let Josh Dasilva's shot squirm into the net after 10 minutes; since the start of the 2018-19 season, only Jordan Pickford (11) has made more errors leading to Premier League goals than the Spaniard.

Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo joined Dasilva on the scoresheet by the 35th minute as Brentford scored with their first four shots on target, while Cristiano Ronaldo cut a dejected figure on his return to the United team.

Only two teams had previously scored four first-half goals against United in a Premier League game; Tottenham in October 2020 and Liverpool in October 2021.

The result is that United have begun a top-flight campaign with back-to-back defeats for the first time since 1992-93, the Premier League's inaugural season.

And while the table has not quite taken shape two games in, United ended the day bottom of the Premier League for the first time since August 21, 1992.

Arsenal 4-2 Leicester City: Miraculous home debut for Jesus

Another side with Champions League ambitions has made a far brighter start to the Premier League season, as Mikel Arteta's Arsenal made it two consecutive wins with an entertaining victory over Leicester.

Former Manchester City forward Jesus was hailed as a coup for the Gunners when he arrived in the off-season, and he enjoyed a home debut to remember by scoring two goals and adding two assists.

In doing so, the Brazilian became the first player to score multiple goals on his home Premier League bow for Arsenal, as well as the first Gunners player to double up for goals and assists in a single league game since Theo Walcott against Newcastle in December 2012 (three goals, two assists).

Before Jesus assisted compatriot Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal's fourth goal, he became the 12th different Brazilian to score in the Premier League for Arsenal – the most of any side in the competition's history.

Jesus was not the only player to impress, however, with Granit Xhaka both scoring and assisting in the same match for the first time in an Arsenal shirt, 252 games into his Gunners career.

Leicester, meanwhile, were subjected to a familiar feeling of frustration in north London – this was the sixth time they have conceded at least four goals in a Premier League game against Arsenal.

Manchester City 4-0 Bournemouth: Champions cruise despite quiet day for Haaland

Home teams hitting four goals seemed to be a theme of the day, as Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions followed up a win at West Ham by cruising past Bournemouth.

Scott Parker's team were likely not expecting a result at the Etihad Stadium; City have now won all 11 of their Premier League matches against Bournemouth, the best 100 per cent winning record against a particular team in the competition's history.

A Jefferson Lerma own goal came after strikes from Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, as the Cherries made it 17 league matches without a win against City in their history – the most one side has faced another without a victory in English league history.

Kevin De Bruyne was at his creative best for City, scoring his 16th league goal since the start of last season before teeing up Foden's strike.

The Belgian has both scored and assisted in 20 separate Premier League matches since his September 2015 debut. Only Mohamed Salah (24) and Son Heung-min (21) have done so on more occasions in that time.

But while City were rampant, new talisman Haaland was quiet. The Norwegian only managed eight touches and two successful passes, but still managed to make an impact.

One of Haaland's passes was from kick-off, the other teed up Gundogan to score the first goal.

Southampton 2-2 Leeds United: Saints manage rare comeback as Aribo opens account

Elsewhere, Jesse Marsch's Leeds failed to make it two wins from two as Southampton launched a stirring comeback on the south coast.

Rodrigo was on the scoresheet in a win over Wolves last week before hitting a brace at St Marys, making him the first player to score three goals in Leeds' first two games of a Premier League season since Alan Smith in 2000-01.

But Leeds could not hold on, failing to win after going two goals ahead for only the second time in their last 36 Premier League games, and for the first time in 14 such contests (since a 3-3 draw with Charlton Athletic in May 2004).

Southampton have now avoided defeat in two of the last five Premier League games where they have gone two goals down (also a 2-2 draw against Brighton in April), but their love of a comeback is a new characteristic.

Before April, the Saints had only managed one win and one draw from the last 58 Premier League games in which they went two goals behind.

Joe Aribo represents one of their most impressive additions following his arrival from Rangers, and his goal made him the first Nigerian to score in the Premier League for Southampton, as well as the 38th in the competition's history overall.

Kevin De Bruyne feels Erling Haaland must continue to adapt to the Premier League with Manchester City, while hailing the forward's efforts against Bournemouth on Saturday.

The Norway international teed up an opening assist for Ilkay Gundogan in a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium, but otherwise struggled to influence proceedings.

Even as De Bruyne and Phil Foden added further goals, Haaland cut a peripheral figure for the hosts, and ultimately had just eight touches throughout the entire match.

De Bruyne still feels that the Leeds-born attacker is bedding into life in a different league, however, pointing to the differences between the English top flight and the Bundesliga, where Haaland has arrived from.

"He played really well," the Belgian said. "Obviously, it's so tight. I don't think in Germany, he played a lot of games where teams were so defensively narrow, so it is something he will have to adapt to.

"With Gundogan, he finds him perfectly, and he set us up for the win. If he plays that way, he will be good."

Erling Haaland has "a lot of margin to improve" with Manchester City, according to Pep Guardiola.

The Norway international made the move from Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad Stadium ahead of the new season, as a flagship signing for both the club and the Premier League.

Despite drawing a blank in the Community Shield loss to Liverpool, the Leeds-born star responded with a brace on his league debut for the club last weekend against West Ham.

For Guardiola, however, Haaland still has plenty of scope to get better at City, suggesting he must work more to find the ball and bring himself into the thick of the action.

"In the process to score a goal, I do not like the striker just waiting for balls to come," he said ahead of Saturday's home clash with Bournemouth.

"If he wants to drop, he can do it. Erling has a lot of margin to improve. I would not make out he is done. He can be a better player and [he] has the will to do it.

"He likes to play football. I [have] never seen a player, [except] maybe [Lionel] Messi, who is a finished article. Always, you can improve.

"We will try to make him a better player, all our players have a lot of margin to be better. That is the reason why we are here, to try to help them."

Guardiola also touched on the title rivalry his side have shared with Liverpool over the past few seasons, framing their relationship as something that pushes City forward to new heights with each year.

"We were able to create this rivalry," he added. "The biggest opponent we face is Liverpool [and] it is an honour. Sport like this, individual [or] collective, you need someone to [make] you better."

Pep Guardiola has no excuse not to win the Champions League with Manchester City given Erling Haaland's talent, according to Fabio Capello.

City were Premier League champions last season but again came up short in Europe, losing to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

The perennial league winners are still waiting on their first taste of glory in the Champions League, which Guardiola himself has not won since 2011.

Widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the modern game, Guardiola's failure to deliver success in Europe's elite club competition has regularly been used as a source of criticism.

And Capello – a European champion as Milan coach in 1994 – now believes City must succeed this season.

New superstar striker Haaland marked his Premier League debut with two goals in a win at West Ham, and Capello spotted the final piece of the City jigsaw.

"This year there is a favourite for me: Manchester City," the ex-England manager told Il Mattino. "There is no race.

"They finally have a powerful centre-forward in Haaland. He has power and speed.

"I saw the match against West Ham and I realised that this time Guardiola has no excuse: he has to win the Champions League.

"Even if, in the end, they'll tell him that he [only] won the Champions League first with [Lionel] Messi and then with Haaland."

Erling Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut as Manchester City beat West Ham 2-0 at London Stadium.

A first-half penalty from Haaland was followed by a typically clinical finish when the big-money signing after the break, as the champions picked up three points from their opening game. 

With Haaland seen as the striker Pep Guardiola has been lacking since Sergio Aguero's departure, it was fitting that the new arrival became only the second City player to score a brace on his Premier League bow, with the former Argentina international being the other in August 2011.

Hammers boss David Moyes was forced to start full-back Ben Johnson at centre-back alongside Kurt Zouma, with Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and new signing Nayef Aguerd all out injured.

It took a while for City to get going, and they thought they had taken the lead when a neat move down the left led to Haaland playing in Ilkay Gundogan, who squared for Kevin De Bruyne to sweep home, only for the offside flag to go up.

Moyes's injury problems mounted further as Lukasz Fabianski had to go off after taking a knock in a challenge for the ball with Haaland, Alphonse Areola replacing him.

One of Areola's first contributions was to bring down Haaland when he was through on goal to concede a 36th-minute penalty, which the Norway striker dispatched calmly, sending Areola the wrong way.

Declan Rice skied a presentable chance over after a Gundogan error early in the second half, and some uncharacteristic misplaced City passes crept in as the Hammers looked for an equaliser, turning to their own new striker Gianluca Scamacca to come on just before the hour.

Haaland struck again after 65 minutes, though, when a City counter-attack saw De Bruyne slide his new team-mate in and the former Borussia Dortmund man placed his shot coolly past Areola to seal the points.

Erling Haaland has said he will not dwell on missed chances as he prepares for his Premier League debut with Manchester City.

The Premier League champions begin their title defence at West Ham on Sunday, and spread further fear throughout the league when they sealed the signing of Haaland in June.

However, his debut in a City shirt did not go according to plan as he drew a blank in the 3-1 Community Shield defeat to Liverpool, including hitting the crossbar from point-blank range late on.

Speaking to former Newcastle United and England striker Alan Shearer for BBC Sport and The Athletic, the 22-year-old outlined his process as a goalscorer, and why he will not allow those misses to be carried into future games.

"As a striker, I think it's really important that when you're in the game to not think too much," Haaland said. "If I'm going to go into my next game thinking about the chance I missed last game, it's not good.

"You have to go into the game hungry. It doesn't matter what happened before, if you scored three goals, if you scored zero goals, if you haven't scored in a while. You have to go into the game with the same mentality. And so I think about not thinking too much about it."

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games in two-and-a-half years at Borussia Dortmund, but admitted there is extra pressure that comes with playing for City, who have won four of the last five Premier League titles, including pipping Liverpool by one point last season.

"Yes, of course it's pressure," he said. "I'm playing for the champions... so there's pressure, but in my head, it's about trying to go out on the pitch smiling as much as I can and to try to enjoy the game. Because life goes fast and suddenly my career is over.

"You saw that with my father (who retired aged 30 due to injury), suddenly it's over. So it's about trying to enjoy every single minute of it because I'm really lucky to have this job and to be here.

"In the end, we just want to enjoy playing football, enjoy what our childhood dream was. There will be people talking about you, especially as a striker if you don't score, then the talk comes, but in the end you cannot choose what people say, what people read, what people think about you.

"This is something you just have to live with. And yeah, I kind of enjoy it."

Haaland also outlined his early impressions of working with Pep Guardiola, who has won four Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and an FA Cup since arriving as manager in 2016.

"He's demanding in his messages about what to do and about doing everything at 100 per cent," he added. "It doesn't matter if it's a normal kind of running exercise, do it at 100 per cent, like you do it on the pitch. Train as you play. Easy as that."

The imposing striker is hoping to bring something extra to City, who were eliminated from the Champions League in agonising fashion by eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals last season. 

"We come as champions from last year, so we have to do the same kind of things they did and hopefully even better," Haaland said.

"In the important games be even better, the Champions League and the cups, and also to maintain all the time in the Premier League.

"It's not easy as we know. It's a difficult league, so many good teams, but it's about building on what they have been having here for so many years.

"I want to come in here and bring my own kind of things to the game and hopefully be better."

Just 11 weeks have passed since Manchester City lifted the Premier League title to bring down the curtain on the 2021-22 Premier League campaign, yet plenty has changed ahead of the start of the new season.

City have undergone a facelift of sorts, with Erling Haaland their marquee arrival of the window, while last term's runners-up Liverpool have replaced the ever-reliable Sadio Mane with Darwin Nunez in attack.

The chasing pack have also been busy as they desperately attempt to keep pace with City and Liverpool, but the exciting signings of the close season to date have not been solely reserved by those competing in the upper echelons.

With the 2022-23 season getting underway on Friday, Stats Perform picks out 10 players we are most looking forward to seeing in action in the Premier League for the very first time.

 

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Arguably the highest-profile signing of the transfer window, Haaland arrives at City with a reputation of being one of Europe's most ruthless goalscorers at the age of just 22.

Haaland was prolific during his short time at Salzburg and scored 86 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund.

That is a tally bettered by only Robert Lewandowski (122) and Kylian Mbappe (89) across the same period, both of whom played 19 games more.

Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)

Liverpool will also have a new frontman this campaign after spending an initial £64million (€75m) to bring in Nunez from Benfica.

While not a direct like-for-like replacement for Mane, the Uruguay international will have to both score goals on a regular basis and also help to get the best out of his fellow attackers, such as Mohamed Salah. 

The figures suggest Nunez should be well up to the task, with his conversion rate of 27.2 per cent being the highest of all players with 55 or more non-penalty shots in Europe's top-six leagues last season.

Ivan Perisic (Tottenham)

Tottenham were successful in getting the majority of their transfer business out the way early on, giving Antonio Conte a chance to integrate the likes of Clement Lenglet, Djed Spence, Richarlison and Yves Bissouma into his squad.

Each of those will add something different, but it is Perisic who is the most intriguing signing of the lot. Regularly linked with a switch to the Premier League, the former Dortmund, Inter and Bayern winger finally gets a chance to test himself in England's top flight. 

Among many other qualities, Perisic created the most chances following ball carries – defined as any instance when a player moves five-or-more metres with the ball – of any player in Serie A in 2021-22 (26), showing he can still be a menace out wide even at the age of 33.

Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United)

New head coach Erik ten Hag has largely stuck to what he knows when it comes to Manchester United's transfer activity in his first window in charge. Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Martinez have all either worked under Ten Hag or have strong connections with the Eredivisie.

Eriksen is already an established name in English football, whereas Malacia and Martinez are gearing up for their first taste of the Premier League. While Malacia is expected to be used as a squad player, Martinez will surely be a regular in the heart of defence if his £48m (€57m) price tag is anything to go by.

Despite concerns being raised over his lack of height, Martinez boasted an aerial duel success rate of 70.2 per cent in the Eredivisie last season, which was fourth-best return of any player.

Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea)

Another perennially linked Premier League player, Koulibaly has joined Chelsea after eight years as a Napoli player. Following the departures of centre-backs Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger after the expiration of their contracts, Koulibaly will have to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge.

If his time with Napoli is anything to go by, Chelsea will have a solid and reliable player in the heart of their defence for the next few years. Across his time in Naples, no defender in Serie A won more tackles (344) or made more successful passes (14,528) than the Senegal international.

Fabio Vieira (Arsenal)

Arsenal mean serious business ahead of Mikel Arteta's third full season in charge. The Spaniard has used his Man City links to recruit Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, having already added Vieira to the squad earlier in the window.

Central midfield was not exactly an area Arsenal were light, yet Arteta felt the need to strengthen and in Vieira he has a player with experience of winning a couple of league titles with Porto prior to turning 22.

In contrast to legendary Arsenal namesake Patrick, the Portugal Under-21 international is more accustomed to playing high up the field and recorded the most assists (14) of any Porto player in the league last season, while also chipping in with six goals of his own. 

Tyler Adams (Leeds United)

Leeds escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last season – now they must do so again without their most important player following Kalvin Phillips' move to Man City. 

Plenty of eyes will be on Adams in the holding midfield position, the United States international having arrived at Elland Road on the back of three years with New York Red Bulls, followed by three more years with sister club RB Leipzig.

Adams recovered possession an average of 5.69 times per 90 minutes across his 24 Bundesliga appearances last season, which is nearly half the number Phillips (10.2) managed in the Premier League – the best return of any player with 900+ minutes in the competition.

Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has quietly gone about his transfer business ahead of his first full season in Premier League management. The signing of Kamara, a defensive midfielder by trade, went somewhat under the radar given it was announced just a day after the previous season finished.

Kamara was a big part of Marseille's strong 2021-22 campaign, which saw them finish second in Ligue 1 and reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

Of midfielders in the French top division in last season, only Johan Gastien and Jordan Ferri made more than Kamara's 2,383 passes, while of those who made over 1,000 passes, only five players had better accuracy than his 90.68 per cent.

Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham)

It says an awful lot about the work carried out by David Moyes at West Ham over the past two seasons that finishing seventh last time out – a drop from sixth the year before – was considered a disappointment.

If Moyes' men are to once again challenge on multiple fronts this coming season, bringing in a player who knows how to find the net was always going to be imperative. In Scamacca, West Ham appear to have exactly that.

The Italy international scored 16 goals in 36 Serie A appearances for mid-table Sassuolo last season and converted 70.59 per cent of his big chances, a figure only bettered by Gianluca Caprari (83.33) and Dusan Vlahovic (73.91) among players to hit double figures.

Aaron Hickey (Brentford)

Brentford have broken their transfer record multiple times this window to help build on an impressive first ever campaign in the Premier League. Christian Eriksen may have departed, but other areas have been strengthened, including in defence.

The £14m (€16.6m) signing of Hickey from Bologna arguably strengthens Brentford in both full-back departments, given the Scotland international's versatility with both feet. 

He also has an eye for goal, having netted five times in the Italian top flight and assisted another last season. Among Serie A defenders in the 2021-22 season, only Genoa's Domenico Criscito (six) and Nahuel Molina (seven) of Udinese scored more goals.

Pep Guardiola has no doubt Erling Haaland will score goals for Manchester City but insists he does not care how many he gets.

The Premier League champions, who begin their title defence at West Ham on Sunday, secured the services of one of the most sought-after players in the world when Haaland's move from Borussia Dortmund was announced in June.

However, the Norwegian's debut did not go according to plan as he drew a blank in a 3-1 Community Shield loss to Liverpool.

Asked how many goals Haaland will score this season, Guardiola's response was initially jovial as he replied: "You are the guy who's going to ask me about Haaland at every press conference, right? Welcome to Manchester."

He added: "I don't know how many goals he's going to score and I don't care.

"We are not going to win for Erling and we are not going to lose for Erling. He has to be himself. From what I've seen he's going to adapt quick.

"He played one week ago his first 90 minutes in five months. He's a big figure in terms of physicality and needs maybe more time to get in the best condition.

"If people have doubts he's going to score goals, he's going to score goals.

"The chances are always there. He's a good finisher, so just adapt the way he plays and we're going to do that to him.

"At the same time I don't have any doubts it's going to happen.

"The goals he's going to score, I don't care."

The schedule this term will present a new challenge as the Qatar World Cup falls in the middle of the campaign, taking place from November 21 to December 18.

Guardiola believes there are effectively two seasons within one, and acknowledged there is precious little room for error as City seek to fend off the persistent threat of Liverpool and other contenders.

"It's like two Premier Leagues in one Premier League," he said. "There's one Premier League before the World Cup. You cannot win the Premier League [before the World Cup] but you can lose it.

"It's not just Liverpool. They will not drop much, so this is why you have to start well. We won two Premier Leagues being just one point ahead of Liverpool. That means we are able to win 11, 12, 15 or 14 games in a row if we can do it. Liverpool as well.

"We proved ourselves we can do it in the past, and if you can do it in the past you can do it in the present. I have the feeling the rivals will not drop many points, we know.

"I have the feeling since we arrived... the team I rely on them a lot and I see in every training session that the guys are still out there. How they train every day. That makes me feel, okay, we'll see what happens.

"I think we're still there, we'll be there, and that's the most important thing. When I see the relations they have in the locker room and the incredible focus they have in training sessions, what we are doing so far is really good.

"We'll see what happens in the good moments and the low moments in the season, how we react and how we behave."

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