⚽️ Manchester City Supernova Erling Haaland is PFA POTY

Good morning.

If you think Manchester City is the root of all Premier League evil, today is not your day. Today’s missive is City-heavy because it has to be.

In the email today:  

Maybe the strangest part of Erling Haaland’s 2022-2023 campaign was that he only scored 52 goals in all competitions. Because if you watched him play, you’d have sworn he scored 100. Anyway, 52 was good enough to land the Nordic megastar the PFA Player of the Year award.

• Haaland's competitors for the award included his teammates Kevin de Bruyne and John Stones, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and former Tottenham player Harry Kane (now at Bayern Munich).

• Manchester City achieved a historic Treble last season, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.

• Haaland expressed his gratitude for the award and credited his teammates for his success, aiming to replicate it in the upcoming season.

• Haaland's transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City took place in June 2022, for a fee of £51.2 million.

• Both Haaland and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka were separately selected for the PFA Team of the Year, an additional recognition of their outstanding performances.

Our take: Haaland was the last piece of Manchester City’s puzzle. City had come up short in multiple Champions League campaigns before his arrival. Haaland didn’t score the trophy winning goal in the CL final, but he commanded so much defensive attention that many of his teammates were free to run to spaces and wait for the ball. Haaland is a cheat code.

No less an authority than Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero recently weighed in on what City needed to accomplish in this transfer window. “I believe the club should consider bringing in additional midfield and winger options,” said City’s all-time leading goal scorer. Ask and you shall receive.

• Manchester City is set to pay Wolves €55m (£47.25m) for midfielder Matheus Nunes.

• As partial recompense, Wolves have secured a season-long loan deal for City prospect Tommy Doyle as part of the negotiations.

• Wolves initially resisted selling Nunes, who City had shown interest in, but eventually agreed due to a better upfront cash offer.

• City targeted Nunes after Kevin De Bruyne's hamstring surgery, with Nunes expressing his desire to leave Wolves.

• Wolves’ willingness to part with Nunes was informed by the club’s financial constraints.

Our take: Give Manchester City this: The club did not look at winning the Treble as the end point. They let Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan leave in the summer and saw Kevin de Bruyne fall to injury. Did they stand pat? You know the answer. The surest way to empire rot is complacency. The Nunes signing shows that City’s approach to team-building is the furthest thing from self-satisfaction.

3) 💶 TWEET OF THE DAY

The Ange Postecoglou bump didn’t last as long as the Spurs faithful hoped. No matter who the manager is, Spurs gonna Spurs.

4) 💧 Water Cooler: Transfer Window Hysteria

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links

• ⚖️ Chelsea star Raheem Sterling’s home was burglarized during the World Cup.

• 💷 Separately, Chelsea have agreed to pay £45m to pry Cole Palmer from Manchester City.

• 🔴 Pundits note that Manchester United are spending themselves into futility.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow @philkeidel on X.

Thanks for reading!