Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero has hinted that Erling Haaland could take time to adapt to English football.
The Norwegian striker has arrived in the Premier League with plenty of hype following his £51million move from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer.
However, he struggled in Manchester City's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday and missed a sitter from only a couple of yards out in the closing moments.
'He was too used to Germany,' Aguero said on his Twitch channel. 'Haaland thought he was alone, then Van Dijk arrived and said "welcome to the Premier League".'
Haaland scored 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga games across two and a half seasons for Dortmund and has been backed by bookmakers to finish as the Premier League's top scorer in his debut campaign for City.
He will hope to emulate Aguero, who scored 23 league goals in his first season for the club after moving from Atletico Madrid in 2011. The Argentine went on to hit a total of 260 City goals, making him their all-time record goalscorer.
Aguero played alongside Raheem Sterling for six seasons at the Etihad - 19 of his City goals were assisted by the England international - and questioned the club's decision to sell him to Chelsea this summer.
The Blues paid £50million for Sterling after he grew frustrated at his lack of opportunities under Pep Guardiola.
'I don't understand the sale of Sterling,' Aguero said. 'There are times they [City] make strange decisions.'
The man attempting to fill Sterling's shoes in Manchester is 22-year-old Julian Alvarez, who arrived from River Plate for £14million in January but was sent back on loan to the Argentine club in the second half of last season.
Unlike Haaland, Alvarez did score in the Community Shield on Saturday despite City's defeat.
Aguero, who was forced to retire last year due to heart problems just six months into a stint at Barcelona, briefly played alongside the forward for Argentina.
'Julian sent me a message to find out how life is in Manchester,' the 34-year-old revealed. 'I told him that he was going to be very cold!'