194cm tall “Post C. Ronaldo” Erling Harland “walks with his bodyguard” at Hamarikyu Palace
It was 2:00 p.m. in late July when I spotted Erling Harland (23) of Manchester City (“Manc”), a 194-centimeter-tall soccer player, at the Hamarikyu Gardens. The temperature at that time was over 37 degrees Celsius. Harland was strolling with several bodyguards on the lawn, which was completely unshaded.
At nearly two meters tall, he ran the 100 meters in 10 seconds and scored a hat trick in his debut match in the Champions League in his first appearance in the CL (Champions League) in 1919. At the end of that year, he scored a hat-trick in his debut match at Borussia Dortmund, where he had moved to. In his debut season in the Premier League, he scored 36 goals, a new league record.
He is sure to break the record set by Cristiano Ronaldo (38), and is the first “post-Ronaldo” to do so. It is said that ManC, which wants to extend his contract, is sure to offer more than Ronaldo’s salary of 26 million pounds (about 4.6 billion yen) for last season.
Harland’s Man C is currently on a preseason tour of Asia, and after arriving at Narita Airport on the 20th, they played Yokohama F. Marinos on the 23rd and FC Bayern Munich on the same night. Harland was the only one who carried out the walk under the blazing sun even before the match, but he returned to the hotel with a cool look on his face.
Harland and Shohei Ohtani (29) are often compared among soccer fans, but Harland is also known for his thorough self-discipline, so much so that it is fair to say he devotes his entire life to soccer. Walking under the blazing sun must have been part of his routine.
In the game against Marinos, he lived up to expectations by scoring two goals. How much will “Postronaude” get paid next season, and how far will his record go?
