Erling Haaland is the season's biggest transfer target. Although Borussia Dortmund may attempt to keep him for another year, Europe's most famous teams are circling the young Norwegian star. From Real Madrid and Barcelona to Manchester City and Chelsea, the world's biggest teams see the potential for Haaland to lead their attacking line for the next decade. Where Haaland ends up, if he even moves at all is possibly the biggest question of the summer transfer season, a season which will finally see the young Norwegian striker turn 21.

The latest Haaland transfer rumors

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Numbers to know on Haaland

  • 38 Goals: Since first suiting up for Borussia Dortmund on January 18th 2020, Erling Haaland has scored 38 times in Bundesliga play. Since that date only two players have scored more goals in their domestic leagues than him, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo. That's some pretty good company to be keeping.
  • 1.04 Goals Per 90 Minutes: Those 38 goals are even more impressive given that they came in only 41 Bundesliga matches, and in 3292 minutes played. Among players who have played at least 2000 domestic league minutes for their team since Haaland debuted almost a seaon and a half ago with Dortmund, only Lewandowski is scoring at a faster rate than Haaland. 
  • 0.87 expected goals per 90: Haaland's goal scoring numbers are somewhat better than his xG numbers, but not by an exorbitant amount, and his xG is itself an elite figure. Only Lewandowski, Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have better xG per 90 numbers than Haaland since Haaland's Dortmund debut.
  • 3.36 shots per 90: Another remarkable thing about Haaland's game is that he takes relatively few shots to produce so many goals and such a high xG total. Amongst the top ten in xG per 90 in Europe's big five leagues (with 2000 minutes or more played) Haaland has taken fewer shots than all but one other player. This means he's extremely efficient. He's only taking the best shots, and he's putting them away ruthlessly.

Transfer risk factor

Haaland is as pure a striker as you'll find anywhere in the game. In an age where players are increasingly asked to wrap being a scorer, creator, defensive pressing dynamo, and tireless runner into one package, Haaland is, so far in his young career, a specialist. Among the top 30 players by xG per 90 in Europe's big five leagues (with 2000 minutes since Haaland joined Dortmund) only one has fewer touches of the ball than Haaland's 30.59. It's Jamie Vardy.

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Can Haaland lead the line for the top teams in the world while touching the ball as little as he has in his career up to date? Or, will his game develops as he ages, and will he become a more well rounded player in addition to one of the best strikers in the world. When you're talking about a player who will command the kind of nine figure transfer fee that Haaland is likely to bring to Dortmund, those are the questions which will define whether the team that shells out all that cash ultimately views the move as a success.