How Players Before Erling Haaland Have Coped With The 'Bundesliga Tax'

Erling Haaland is expected to take the Premier League by storm, after his move to Manchester City was confirmed, but there could still be a 'Bundesliga Tax' to pay, although not all signings from Germany have had to pay it.

On Monday morning, City revealed their new signing with a video including a cheeky throwback to Haaland's time supporting City as a kid, thanks to his dad playing for them.

The 21-year-old is expected to be a huge success in England, which is no surprise considering how frighteningly good his stats have been so far in his young career.

His time with Borussia Dortmund saw him score nearly a goal a game, and in the Bundesliga alone it was 62 goals in 67 appearances.

Just how many will Haaland score in England. Image: Alamy

Bringing that kind of form to England will likely see him score even more considering how dominant Pep Guradiola's team normally are but there are questions about the famed 'Bundesliga tax,' which claims players moving from Germany's top tier don't do quite as well in England.

Burnley's Wout Weghorst certainly paid the price last season, after being signed from Wolfsburg in January, with teammate Connor Roberts clearly not happy with his return of two goals.

We decided to have a look at some of the most expensive attacking signings, based on Transfermarkt's stats, from Germany to England, and see if City fans actually have anything to fear.

Jadon Sancho - Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United - £76.5 million - Sancho has only had one season at United but it's fair to say it wasn't a great one.

Struggled at the start of the season when playing on the right, got dropped by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but improved under Ralf Rangnick playing on the left.

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Kai Havertz - Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea - £72 million - Yet to live up to the expectation and goalscoring stats of his last two seasons in Germany.

However has impressed at times and scoring the winner in a Champions League final pretty much makes up for anything else.

Kevin de Bruyne - Wolfsburg to Manchester City - £68.4 million - Despite what Sky Sports pundits thought at the time of the transfer, there may not be a more successful move on this list than De Bruyne.

If Haaland can have even half the impact as the midfielder on the success of his team then the transfer will be worth every penny.

De Bruyne certainly hasn't had to pay any sort of tax. Image: Alamy

Christian Pulisic - Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea - £57.6 million - 'The LeBron James of soccer' hasn't quite lived up to that moniker but he has still produced moments of brilliance.

He's only scored 19 goals for the Blues, but then he wasn't much of a goal scorer for Dortmund either, and has helped them win the Champions League, UEFA Super League and FIFA Club World Cup.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal - £57.38 million - Dortmund are pretty good at selling players aren't they. Despite the bitter ending for Aubameyang he still did pretty well in England.

68 goals including a run that took them to FA Cup and Community Shield success, as well as a Europa League final, a lack of replacement in January definitely hampered the Gunners top four ambitions.

Timo Werner - RB Leipzig to Chelsea - £47.7 million - The tax has definitely been high for Werner, who scored 28 goals in his final Bundesliga season.

In two campaigns in west London the Germany international has only managed 10 goals in the league and been considered a flop by all accounts.

Werner's time at Chelsea hasn't been great so far. Image: Alamy

Leroy Sane - Schalke 04 to Manchester City - £46.8 million - A successful but potentially unfulfilled time in England, as the sublime could be mixed in with some very average performances.

Still helped the team win back-to-back titles and won PFA Young Player of the Year, before an injury curtailed his last campaign and then his move to Bayern Munich ended his spell.

Sebastien Haller - Eintracht Frankfurt to West Ham - £45 million - A club record fee for the Hammers and it came with a large tax from the Bundesliga, although he may not have been used in the best way.

The Frenchman went from leading Frankfurt to the Europa League semi final to 10 goals in a season and a half in London. His move to Ajax has proved that he was better than that return.

Joelinton - Hoffenheim to Newcastle United - £39.6 million - Undoubtedly the Brazilian has been a flop and laughing stock for most of his time in the north east.

He's scored only 10 goals in over 100 league appearances for the Magpies but his move into midfielder in the second half of last season suggests Eddie Howe's side might be due a tax rebate.

Joelinton looks to have turned his fortunes around at Newcastle. Image: Alamy

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United - £37.8 million - Mkhitaryan was involved in one of the worst transfers in Premier League history, though that was when he and Alexis Sanchez swapped places.

At United, the Armenian didn't quite live up to his reputation in Germany, not in the league at least, was excellent in the Europa League winning campaign, even scoring in the final.

Roberto Firmino - Hoffenheim to Liverpool - £36.9 million - Firmino has definitely been worth every penny for Jurgen Klopp's team, even if his powers have waned recently.

The Brazilian has been an integral member of the Reds winning the Premier League and Champions League in recent years.

Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg to Manchester City - £33.3 million - Dzeko's goal scoring at City was pretty similar to his time in Germany, in his four full seasons at least.

The Bosnian forward helped the team win two league titles and scored the all important equaliser in 2012 against QPR, before Sergio Aguero's famous winner.

Without Dzeko's goal in 2012 there would have been no comeback win for the title. Image: Alamy

Leon Bailey - Bayer Leverkusen to Aston Villa - £28.8 million - Bailey's reputation has been sky high for several years, being linked with most of the biggest clubs at one point or another, so it was a surprise when Villa signed him last summer.

So far hasn't lived up to the hype in his first year in England and, despite still being young, doesn't seem to fit in with Steven Gerrard's plans.

Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen to Tottenham Hotspur - £27 million - Alongside De Bruyne, Son is up there with most successful moves to the Premier League.

Only scored four goals in his debut campaign with Spurs but is now one of the best players in the world and shared the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah in the most recent campaign.