Serbian FA president Nenad Bjekovic has claimed that Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is a ‘better and more complete’ player than new Manchester City signing Erling Haaland.
Vlahovic made the €80m – including add-ons – switch to Juve during the January transfer window and finished the season with 29 goals in all competitions from his time with both his new club and the first half of the campaign with former team Fiorentina.
Haaland then moved to City from Borussia Dortmund in June for €60m.
Only around six months separate the pair of strikers in terms of age – Vlahovic turned 22 in January and Haaland is about to also turn 22 – and they have a similar physical profile.
Bjekovic, who is always likely to favour his own man, has claimed that Vlahovic is ‘not inferior’ when it comes to raw power and that the Serbian star has a more varied and better style of play overall.
"Vlahovic is better and more complete than Haaland," Bjekovic told Tuttosport.
"The Norwegian has devastating power, but Dusan is not inferior: there is also very little difference in their height. But the Juventus forward’s variety and styles of player is better.
"Manchester City and Juventus paid more or less the same fee, including commissions, to sign the two this year from Borussia Dortmund and Fiorentina."
Haaland will be trying his hand in the fourth different country of his career once the 2022/23 Premier League season kicks off, having so far played in Norway, Austria and Germany already.
Vlahovic, meanwhile, has been based in Serie A since making the switch to Fiorentina in 2018. He had previously played first-team football for Partizan back home in Serbia but didn’t make the permanent senior breakthrough in Italy until the 2019/20 season.
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Source : 90min