Having played with Erling Haaland at both Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, Manuel Akanji must know his strengths and weaknesses as a striker like the back of his hand.
Haaland recently referred to Akanji as “underrated” as well with the pair having witnessed each other’s development over the years.
The Swiss international even revealed that the £51 million man sent him a text to inform him that City were interested in signing him via the Sky Blues’ official website.
The question that most centre-backs across Europe would pose is how one can stop Haaland from scoring against them.
The Manchester City marksman seemingly does not mind being on the periphery of games.
However, Tony Cascarino made an observation about Haaland being able to have a quiet outing and all of a sudden, he dispatches a brace.
Akanji shares intriguing weakness about teammate before Man City move
As a result, the challenge for a defence is not necessarily to tame the Norwegian’s influence but making sure that he does not score by the end of the contest.
Antonio Rudiger is a centre-back that has perhaps been the best at keeping the 24-year-old quiet.
However, apart from the Real Madrid colossus, not many have been able to — whether that is in the Premier League or the Champions League.
While discussing Haaland, Akanji revealed that before he joined Manchester City, his heading was one aspect of his game that was far from flawless.
The 29-year-old told Men In Blazers: “On crosses, he has an incredible high jump and he improved a lot on headers. I remember, when he came to Dortmund and where he is now on headers, he’s so good now.”
“It’s why always as a defender, you always need to be close to him because he’s capable to score out of a lot of positions.”
Haaland once told British GQ that his former manager at Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjær told him that he was poor at heading the ball — an attribute they worked in tandem regularly to improve.
Erling Haaland can still improve his heading
While the Leeds-born phenom scored a remarkable header in Manchester City’s 5-1 thrashing of Wolves last season, his heading during his side’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea was wasteful.
Haaland is dangerous from heading positions but throughout his career, this very attribute has not been his strongest.
The two-time Premier League has the height and the strength to win headers and turn into an elite aerial threat.
But he is yet to do so in his career.
It will be interesting to see whether Haaland can elevate his heading this season.