Erling Haaland says he was brought to Manchester City to help them win the Champions League because they “already know” how to win the Premier League.
Haaland, 22, scored five goals in City’s 7-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig on Tuesday that secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
City’s best performance in the competition is finishing runners-up to Chelsea in 2021.
“Of course the club want to win the Champions League,” said Haaland.
“They’ve won four out of the last five Premier League titles. They didn’t bring me in to win the Premier League because they already know how to win it.
“So, you can read between the lines. I’m here to try to help the club develop even more and to win the Champions League for the first time.”
City’s failure to lift the Champions League is in contrast to their recent domestic success.
BBC reports that City have won 17 trophies since owner Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of the club in 2008, including six Premier League titles – four of which have come since manager Pep Guardiola was appointed in 2016.
He has scored 10 Champions League goals so far this season, the most by a Manchester City player in a single season in the competition.
He is the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 for Shakhtar Donetsk and Lionel Messi for Barcelona in March 2012
He has scored 33 goals in 25 Champions League games, reaching the 30-goal milestone in fewer matches than any other player in the competition’s history.
He is the youngest player to reach 30 goals in Champions League history (22 years 236 days).
He is only the second player to score five goals in a Champions League/European Cup game for an English team after Raymond Crawford for Ipswich Town vs Floriana in September 1962
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
