22
FOR
2022
01
ERLInG HAALAnD
Age 21 Club Borussia
Dortmund Nationality
Norwegian Position StrikerA few years ago, a rare thing
happened to Mino Raiola: he fell in
love. The superagent turned on his TV
to watch a young striker play for Molde,
in Norway’s top division. Casual fans
knew the kid was good. Raiola saw
something more. He’d found the one.
Soon, Raiola had become an advisor
to Erling Braut Haaland and his dad,
Alfie, a former midfielder for Leeds,
Nottingham Forest and Manchester
City. Since then, none of them have
done too badly – going into 2022,
Raiola and Alfie are gearing up for
one of the bidding wars of the decade.
A buyout clause will allow him to
leave Borussia Dortmund next summer
for €75 million, about half his market
value. The victor of the frenzied auction
will be whichever party entices Raiola
and the Haalands the most – be it with
love, money... or preferably both.MINO KNOWS
Few agents sell their clients better than
Raiola. With Haaland, however, the
Italian-Dutch middle man has barely
needed to say a word.
The 6ft 4in Norwegian is the talent of
the century alongside Kylian Mbappe.
Fast, strong and lethal, Haaland is
a cyborg-ish freak of nature; a truly
frightening alchemy of Thor, Speedy
Gonzales and The Terminator.
At 21, his output bears comparison
to the very best, past or present. Only
Mbappe is able to match him. If you
exclude penalties at the time of
writing, the duo are averaging 0.79
goals per 90 minutes in league and
European competition – a rate that
beats every major talent aged below
22 over the past two decades.
Raul had registered more goals than
both, but not at the same speed. The
closest is Lionel Messi, at 0.68. Decent
effort, Leo... but no cigar.Messi and Ronaldo dominated the transfer
agenda in 2021, but now it’s time for the big
boys to scrap over the next generation. None
will be more in demand than Erling Haaland,
the first in our list of 22 stars under the age
of 22, who could rule during the year aheadWords Thore Haugstad
22 FOR
2022