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Erling Haaland hadn’t got the memo about Manchester City trying after Christmas, until Saturday, when brief ‘Fraudland’ claims were put to bed by a typically efficient and brutal display by the striker.
The same fixture last season was all about the tussle between Erling Haaland and Ben Godfrey, who had evidently been directed by then Everton manager Frank Lampard to engage the striker in a physical battle in a bid to throw him off his goalscoring stride.
Haaland scored, but only once in a 1-1 draw, with Godfrey deemed by many to have ‘won’. When asked whether the Norwegian was “upset” by the clear attempts to rub him up the wrong way after the game, Godfrey smiled and said: “Yeah, course he was, I think you saw his reaction.”

We were denied the joy of a second round as Godfrey lined up on the right side of defence and was barely seen in the same vicinity as Haaland, who was instead frustrated by James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, until he decided to kick a ball as hard as it’s humanly possible through Jordan Pickford to score his first goal since November.
Haaland had gone four league games without a goal, his second-longest streak ever after a five-game drought for Borussia Dortmund in 2022. His previous longest goalless run for City was just two games, and make no mistake, a 419-minute stretch without finding the net was significant for a striker who has scored on average a goal every 88 minutes in his senior career. We assumed he was immune to such lulls.
READ MORE: The ridiculous goalscoring stats of Erling Haaland
The commonplace suggestion last season that City might actually be better off without the most deadly goalscorer in world football was a tad problematic given his consistent ability to prove himself to be the most deadly goalscorer in world football, and was made all the more dubious by the ensuing treble.

Amid a growing sense that such doubts over Haaland’s impact on the efficient running of the City machine were arising again, ahead of the Everton game, Guardiola said simply: “When one player scores 60 goals it helps you to win games.”
A fair point, and even before his double on Saturday Haaland sat at the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts on 14 with Mohamed Salah, but the longer he went without one, the more questions Guardiola would have to field about his continued selection, given his lack of involvement in the game besides the obvious.
The inevitable City references to fraudulence were appearing on social media, with ‘Fraudland’ the genius chosen amalgamation by Manchester City haters, whose previous fine works include ‘Fraudiola’ and ‘Frauden’.
If anything you’ve got to applaud them for taking the one chance in Haaland’s City career to out him for being a sham, but they’re unlikely to hear said applause given how firmly Haaland slammed the door to that opportunity in their faces in the second half at the Etihad.
City had failed to register a shot on target in a half of football for the first time since August 2022, with Haaland innocuous. And while the striker’s lack of involvement didn’t change in the second half – he had 12 touches before the break and 13 after it – he did do that thing where he scores goals.
Erling Haaland scored a brace to beat Everton.
He leathered the first in with his weaker foot, in what is something of a typical ‘hit the target bloody hard and I’ll score’ trope of his when the ball’s bouncing around the box. And having rediscovered his taste for it he produced arguably the most typical of all Haaland goals, running onto a Kevin De Bruyne through ball from halfway, shrugging off the not insignificant figure of Jarrad Branthwaite as though he was a rag doll, before running around the ball to slot it home with his left foo.

Man City 2-0 Everton: Erling Haaland back with a brace as City shrug off Toffees

Erling Haaland got back into the goals with a brace in a 2-0 Manchester City victory over Everton, the first time he’d got on the scoresheet since November, after blanking in his first two games back from injury.
The prolific Norwegian broke the deadlock after 70 minutes of a drab lunchtime encounter at the Etihad Stadium and wrapped up victory five minutes from time.
It was City’s 10th successive win in all competitions and fired out another warning to their title rivals that their momentum is growing.
City’s superior quality warranted the result, and ultimately it was not a surprise, but it was nevertheless a bitter blow for relegation-threatened Everton after a dogged display.
Toffees manager Sean Dyche may not have been seen pitchside due to a touchline ban but there was no mistaking his influence as Everton, without a league win since December, frustrated City.
The game was slow to get going, not helped by a lengthy delay early on for City goalkeeper Ederson to receive treatment after a collision with Ben Godfrey.
City controlled possession but found opportunities hard to come by. They had little space in which to attack as Everton kept men behind the ball and, with Kevin De Bruyne on the bench and Phil Foden wide, they lacked a creative spark.
Some of their brighter moments came courtesy of Jeremy Doku on the left. The Belgian twice beat Godfrey but one ball across the box was cleared by Jarrad Branthwaite and another cross was too high for Haaland.
Their best chances of the first half came following a corner just before the break as Manuel Akanji and Haaland both had efforts blocked in a crowded box.
Everton created little themselves although Jack Harrison blazed one half-chance well over.
After little change following the restart, City boss Pep Guardiola sent on De Bruyne and Kyle Walker in an attempt to inject some energy.
Doku also remained a danger and he found Haaland in the box but the Norwegian’s ball across goal was turned behind.
Rodri then shot well over but, despite increasing anxiety in the crowd, City maintained their composure and kept probing.
The breakthrough finally came as Everton, for the first time, failed to effectively deal with a ball into the box.
A header was blocked and the ball found its way to Haaland, who met it with a fierce right-footed strike that flew past Jordan Pickford. It was a scrappy goal but reward for City’s persistence.
Everton were deflated and they were caught out again as Haaland finally found some space and was released by a fine De Bruyne through ball. The striker made no mistake as he shrugged off Branthwaite and slotted into the bottom corner.
The job was done although, with 10 minutes of stoppage time, there might have been a livelier finish had a Beto strike not been disallowed for offside.

Haaland for £172m, Guimaraes and Olise both £60m – 2024’s tempting transfer release clauses

An inexhaustive list of the most tempting release clauses knocking about in 2024 and beyond includes Erling Haaland, if you can cobble the cash together.
 
Erling Haaland – £172.1m
The details are understandably vague at best; papa Haaland and those agents had to earn that commission after all. It is thought that the striker’s contract contains a €200m release clause which becomes active in the summer of 2024 and will gradually decrease in value thereafter up to the point of its expiration in 2027.

The latest word was that Manchester City were trying to negotiate said clause out of the deal during extension talks, and the absolute best of luck to them in that quest.
Premier League sides cannot activate the clause, by the way. Cheers, Todd Boehly’s crying. But just imagine the depths Real Madrid and Barcelona would plunge in a Clasico battle for the signature of a player so ridiculous.
 
Victor Osimhen – £113m
A record well in excess of a goal every other game with Napoli demands speculation, even outside this most shallow pool of tangibly elite modern centre-forwards.
Osimhen has acknowledged his Premier League “dream” and the parameters of any deal would exclude most other buyers from elsewhere. It is quite difficult to shake off the idea of Chelsea for obvious reasons.
 
Bruno Guimaraes – £100m
Paris Saint-Germain are said to be sniffing around but it is said that the heart of Guimaraes belongs to Spain. The Newcastle midfielder has specific eyes for Barcelona and there have even been claims that a ‘secret’ clause was inserted into the new five-year contract he signed in October which would facilitate a far cheaper move to the Nou Camp.

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Considering the Magpies bought Guimaraes for £40m two years ago, not to mention his development into a key first-team player and the fact his long-term future has been committed to St James’ Park, it feels like reports of that £60m Barcelona clause are somewhat erroneous.
But with Newcastle openly contemplating the hypothetical sale of anyone to placate the sudden apparent FFP sticklers at the Premier League, Guimaraes is far from untouchable. Liverpool and Chelsea are sniffing around.
READ MORE: Newcastle stars reassigned to comply with FFP: Joelinton to Arsenal as Man Utd finally land £50m man
Bruno Guimaraes reportedly has a Barcelona clause in his new contract.
 
Viktor Gyokeres – £86m
If being signed as a teenager by Brighton from the Swedish lower leagues was not proof enough that Gyokeres would quite obviously make it, then getting plucked by a Portuguese side was irrefutable confirmation. Coventry fielded precious few offers for a player who had made light work of the Championship; all of a sudden the interested parties are flocking.

Twenty goals and 10 assists in 24 appearances has essentially justified Sporting’s club-record outlay already. They are league leaders and still in three other competitions mainly because of his firepower and the coaching of Ruben Amorim.
Arsenal and Chelsea want Gyokeres, the Swede having been right under the noses of any Premier League side who bothered to take notice of the division below.
 
Evanilson – £86m
The usual culprits have been linked with Evanilson, whose 15 goals for Porto this season include a Champions League hat-trick off the back of a productive previous couple of campaigns. The 24-year-old still has no senior international caps for Brazil, which must be the subject of intense personal shame.
 
Lois Openda – £68.8m
Pep Guardiola received a painfully close illustration of Openda’s brilliance in November, when his two Leipzig goals at the Etihad necessitated a dramatic comeback from Manchester City. Only Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy have outscored the Belgian forward in the Bundesliga this season, with things simmering along nicely ahead of the activation of his release clause in summer 2025.
 
Pedro Goncalves – £68.8m
Scratch the above line about Gyokeres and Amorim carrying the Sporting burden; Goncalves has more than played his part. The Portuguese has scored 10 goals and assisted seven more in 27 appearances, attracting the attention of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle, Spurs and presumably a fair few others.
 
Yeremy Pino – £68.8m
A ruptured ACL has ended Pino’s season but likely done little more than postpone talk over the future of a player who was a regular for Villarreal on their runs to Europa League glory and the Champions League semi-finals.
 
Nahuel Molina – £60.2m
A new contract was touted recently for World Cup winner Molina but he would need to be clawed from Diego Simeone’s cold, dead hands.
 
Michael Olise – £60m
The closest any outlet has come to making a definitive claim on the actual value of Olise’s new release clause was the Daily Mirror saying it was ‘around £60m’. Otherwise, it has simply been said that the £35m mark Chelsea met in the summer was significantly increased when Crystal Palace negotiated a contract extension.
In any event, it remains an eminently tempting figure for a wonderful player.
 
Estevao Willian – £51.6m
Brazilian. Sixteen. Winger. Goes by the nickname ‘Messinho’. The boy is practically begging to be signed by Chelsea.
 
Nico Williams – £51.6m
“I am happy in Bilbao,” the forward said when extending his deal until 2027 in December. Aston Villa were heavily linked last summer but the 21-year-old will need some persuading to ever ply his trade outside of the Basque country.
 
Martin Zubimendi – £51.6m
Arsenal and Liverpool like the look of Zubimendi, whose style has drawn comparisons with Sergio Busquets and David Silva. Xabi Alonso helped bring the midfielder through at Real Sociedad and has become the four-cap Spain international’s “role model”.
 
Ismael Bennacer – £43m
Another clause which will be activated in the summer, Italian clubs are disqualified from triggering it and there will be no financial silly beggars: it must be in one instalment.
 
Ian Maatsen – £35m
With Chelsea slightly too open to selling homegrown players for pure profit so they can afford the prodigiously gifted young talents produced by other clubs instead, Maatsen has become hot property.

Not enough that for the Blues to actually play him, of course. The left-back has sought refuge at Borussia Dortmund for a few months and could well return in the summer with his value having sky-rocketed. There might be some awkward questions for Chelsea to confront then, but nothing that 20-odd signings couldn’t fix.
 
Jeremie Frimpong – £34.4m
The vultures will be circling soon enough as Bayer Leverkusen stroll towards the Bundesliga title, with Victor Boniface, Alex Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Xabi Alonso himself certain to entertain offers from clubs poorer in quality but considerably richer in cash.
 
Claudio Echeverri – £21.5m
A couple of years after signing Julian Alvarez in the winter transfer window before sending him back to River Plate, Manchester City have repeated the trick with Echeverri. The deal has been agreed – if not announced on the Premier League club’s side – but the Argentinean teenager will not land permanently in England until January 2025.
 
Isco – £17.2m
A flagging career finally rejuvenated, 31-year-old Isco is back in the La Liga light and thriving with an impressive Real Betis side. May he and Manuel Pellegrini never part again.
 
Borja Mayoral – £17.2m
Only Jude Bellingham has scored more La Liga goals this campaign than Mayoral, whose exploits have Getafe comfortably in mid-table rather than ensconced in a relegation scrap. He might be the mid-season signing to deliver the Premier League title to Arsenal, exactly 20 years since Jose Antonio Reyes did the same.
 
Serhou Guirassy – £15.1m
There has been frustratingly little January activity when it comes to Guirassy, whose red-hot start to the season included 15 goals in nine games before the positively glacial run of three in six. Someone grow up and sign him so he can score three goals in 28 Premier League appearances on his way to Turkey.