Haaland is Man City’s latest gem in the Bundesliga but he’s bucking the trend in the PL.

It would be an understatement to say that Erling Haaland has enjoyed resounding success since joining the Premier League. It’s been a smash hit that shows no signs of stopping. Far from being a ‘one-hit wonder’, he will be more Spice Girls than Gotye, but his arrival from Germany proved to be Manchester City’s latest successful signing from the Bundesliga.

The Citizens seem to be bucking the Premier League trend of new arrivals from the German top flight. For many, it was seen as a safe bet to bring in players from a league that has immense quality and is stylistically quite similar to English football. Haaland is a monster of nature, but City have already had the opportunity to pick rare pearls in Germany.

Kevin de Bruyne is the most obvious name but it’s easy to remember how maligned he was when he arrived in Manchester for £68m. Paul Merson had a blast calling the signing “an absolute joke”, but the words flew back to him and De Bruyne is now the best midfielder in the world.

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He arrived long after Nigel De Jong was part of City’s 2009 revolution from Hamburg. The £18million the New Rich North spent on the Dutchman proved to be a shrewd hire as in three seasons he played a vital role in FA Cup triumph and the first Premier League title in 2012. It was actually De Jong who picked up the ball and passed it to Sergio Aguero, seconds before he scored the famous 93:20 goal.

Former Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko was a hit in his four seasons in England, Ilkay Gundogan continues to deliver results at the highest level after joining in 2016 and Leroy Sane may no longer be part of the squad. Pep Guardiola’s team, but he was excellent at the Etihad and now produces at Bayern Munich.

There has been so much success in the Bundesliga for City and this summer they brought in Manuel Akanji, who could be next on the list for a successful spell at the Etihad. But that’s not the case for other Premier League clubs, as Germany’s top-flight stars have often washed up on our shores.

Chelsea are the club that suffered the most in terms of flops. Timo Werner was a sensational goalscorer at RB Leipzig but became the reincarnation of Fernando Torres (Chelsea edition) after he was transferred for £47m. It was no surprise that the Blues cut their losses and sent him back to Germany in the summer.

Kai Havertz hasn’t enjoyed a resounding success despite scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final, and the less said about Christian Pulisic’s move to Stamford Bridge, the better. That’s £170m of talent that has hardly left a mark in the Premier League.

Chelsea aren’t the only ones struggling to find reliable players who can make this transition simple. In one season, Sebastien Haller scored 15 goals in 29 Bundesliga appearances which convinced West Ham to spend a record £45m on him. Two years and ten goals later, he was sold to Ajax and instantly started producing on the continent again.

Although Liverpool benefited from the delights of Roberto Firmino, Ibrahima Konate and Thiago coming from the Bundesliga, they were slightly stung by the £54million spent on Naby Keita. Meanwhile, Manchester United are still waiting to see the best of £72million man Jadon Sancho and Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have produced mixed results from their recent past.

Heung-min Son was the undisputed market leader in this category before Haaland’s arrival, but Leon Bailey hasn’t quite lived up to expectations at Aston Villa. Jean-Philippe Gbamin was a disaster at Everton and is still on loan despite the club spending £25m to bring him from Mainz.

Large sums have been spent on these Bundesliga players and the return on investment seems mixed. Only Man City have consistently secured major Bundesliga awards without any major flop.

For a country that hosts so many world stars, it’s a bit abnormal that so many of them are struggling to make it in the Premier League. In recent years, this can perhaps be blamed on the rapid rise of the English top flight and Chelsea’s transfer policy to blame, but the Bundesliga boys need to produce before the Brits look elsewhere.