Finding a top striker is always difficult, but Newcastle United fans will be wishing Erling Haaland made a different decision when he was a child as to which team he supported.
Right now, there is no player in the Premier League, maybe even the world, who can get close to Erling Haaland’s goalscoring talents.
Is Alan Shearer’s 260-goal Premier League record in danger after Erling Haaland netting his 100th?⚽
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer may even be worried about his goalscoring record as the Man City ace continues to score at a relentless rate.
Obviously, the Magpies have Nick Woltemade firing them in right now, but can you imagine how it would have been if they had managed to tempt Haaland to Tyneside?
- READ MORE: Erling Haaland issues statement to Alan Shearer as he edges closer to Newcastle United legend
Erling Haaland used to watch Newcastle United as a kid
On the latest episode of The Rest is Football, Haaland was discussing his childhood and how English football was so popular in his native Norway, with a special mention for Newcastle.
Haaland said: “Because in Norway, it’s the league we watch. Everyone in Norway has got a team. There’s so many Newcastle supporters, especially in my hometown, because it’s under one hour flight to Newcastle.
“It’s really close. You know, so it’s always been that there’s so many Leeds fans.”
Haaland, as we know, was a Leeds United fan growing up. That’s largely down to his father, Alf-Inge’s time with the Yorkshire outfit.
Obviously, with the mention of the Magpies, both Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer had just one question for Haaland…
“Why didn’t you go to Newcastle?” Lineker asked. “I was just about to ask that myself,” Shearer added.
- READ MORE: Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney snubbed as Alan Shearer earns ultimate Premier League praise
Let’s say Newcastle have a January transfer budget of £100m. How are you spending it?
All on one player? £20m on five different positions? Going big on a goalkeeper and a young-full back gets my vote…
How different things could be if Haaland signed for Newcastle
Let’s assume Haaland had signed for Newcastle in 2022 instead of joining Man City. It’s impossible to project whether his goals would have necessarily earned Newcastle a league title, for example, but you’d have to assume he would get them close.
In 2022/23, Haaland scored 36 goals in 35 Premier League games. He helped Man City win the title, with Pep Guardiola’s side achieving 89 points; five more than nearest rivals Arsenal. Newcastle finished on 71 points, which is quite the gap.
However, in that season alone Newcastle drew 14 games. Imagine just one Haaland goal in each of them, and you’ve got an extra 28 points right there. That’s highly speculative, of course, but is just a demonstration of the kind of impact Haaland could have.
Compound that over every season, twinned with the fact that one league title could transform Newcastle’s transfer strategy and global appeal, and it’s hard not to get carried away with what could have been…
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