By whatever metric one wishes to measure his impact by, the 22-year-old Norwegian’s contribution to City’s Treble winning campaign was of a magnitude never seen before in this country.
The centre forward had made the move to the Etihad from Borussia Dortmund last summer already armed with a formidable reputation thanks to his superb exploits in the Bundesliga and before that with Austrian outfit RB Salzburg and Molde in his native Norway.
Furthermore, he had arrived in Manchester already armed with a special family connection to the Club. Dad Alfie was a fondly remembered City player himself from the early 2000s – with Erling having also famously been pictured wearing a City shirt as a young boy.
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But no-one could have predicted the extraordinary impact Haaland would have on City in particular and the English game in general across the course of what was a season no-one associated with the Club will ever forget.
A two-goal haul on his league debut away at West Ham lit the Blue touch paper on a campaign that defied belief.
The stats alone make for quite dizzying reading.
Haaland’s cumulative total of 52 goals in all competitions represented the biggest haul ever by a Premier League player.
Along the way to hitting that astounding landmark, Erling also created another slice of notable history, his tally of 36 goals also seeing him break the record previously held by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer for the most Premier League strikes in a single season.
Meanwhile, Erling also created a special slice of Manchester City history, a five-goal special during March’s 7-0 Champions League last 16 second leg win over RB Leipzig seeing him score the most goals in a single season for the Club, overhauling the previous tally of 38 set by Tommy Johnstone – a record that had stood the test of time since the 1928/29 campaign.
The striker also plundered six hat-tricks in all competitions – as many as every other Premier League player combined - with Haaland also notching up trebles in three consecutive Etihad league games back in the Autumn against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in what was another top-flight first.
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Haaland also set or equalled the Premier League records for fewest games needed to score 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 goals.
It was a compelling, era defining campaign that saw fans and pundits alike run out of superlatives in trying to describe Haaland’s astounding impact.
The range of goals was also memorable. From predatory close-range finishes to towering headers, from acrobatic, balletic leaps where Haaland appeared to defy the laws of gravity to thunderous shots and lung bursting runs.
His is a unique talent that allows defenders not a single second’s rest, his extraordinary strikes at home to Borussia Dortmund and away at Southampton perhaps best illustrating the awe-inspiring athletic prowess that the English game has rarely witnessed before.
Equally eye-catching was the way Haaland went about his record-breaking business.
For a player with the eyes of the world trained on him week in, week out, Erling more often than not played with a smile on his face, the joy of playing football for his beloved City plain for all to see.
Allied to that freedom of expression was a relentless hunger and drive to constantly seek to improve and learn – the very fundamentals of Pep Guardiola’s approach to football.
As if to illustrate that fact, it was no coincidence that Haaland made 349 off-ball runs into the penalty area in the Premier League in 2022-23, the most of any player.
And his total of 515 sprints in the Premier League in 2022-23 were also the most of any City player.
Haaland also quickly established an almost telepathic partnership with assist king Kevin De Bruyne, the Belgian providing eight Premier League assists for Haaland across 2022/23 - the most that one player assisted another.
Having made a pledge to Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak immediately after signing that he would strive every sinew to help City win the Champions League, Haaland proved as a good as his word with the Club having already secured the league and FA Cup.
Individual accolades also quickly followed suit from his towering contribution to City’s greatest ever season.
Haaland was voted both the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year – Erling gaining more than 80 per cent of the votes cast – as well as the Premier League Player of the Year.
He is also on the six-man shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year prize.
All in all then quite the debut season!
