Erling Haaland revealed why VAR suits him after saying the "worst thing" he can do is stray offside after his record of beating traps came to an end against Fulham.
The Norway striker ended his two-year record of not being flagged offside in an away Premier League game in City's 5-4 win over Fulham, a game in which he also became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals.
Most strikers were considering how their game may need to change with the introduction of VAR, but Haaland was not one of them, if anything, he was relieved.
It is no surprise then with his ludicrous offside record that Haaland's father Alife told him the introduction of VAR would be "perfect" for him, especially with Manchester City's premier goalscorer himself making it such a mission to remain onside.
Speaking on finally being caught offside away from the Etihad Stadium, he told The Rest is Football: "Yeah, I got it now. Bad pass from Tijani -- I got offside first time in away game in two years.
"I mean, this is the way I've been playing all my life since I was 13. I was striking, we started on the big, big pitch, doing these curved runs and all of this.
"I remember when VAR came, or it was talks about it, I remember Alfie, my father said, this is going to be perfect for you because then you get the decision.
"Simple as that, you know, with the offside, because I'm not going often offside, it's all about timing.
"That's everything in life. It's all about timing with whatever you do. It's about the timing from the pass, you know, and if the pass is, if it waits a bit too long, I will be offside.
"So I need to kind of be ready, but kind of wait in my run because the worst thing I know is going offside because then you've got no chance of scoring a goal.
"If you're onside, but a bit further away, you've still got a chance -- so the worst thing for me is going offside."
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Timing a key factor in Haaland move to Manchester City
Speaking on timing, Haaland spoke of the importance of it in making the move from Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad in 2022.
Unsurprisingly for a player who had netted 86 goals in 89 matches for the Bundesliga side, Haaland was a man in demand.
Previously he would have ended up on the books of Real Madrid or Barcelona, or maybe stay in the Bundesliga and switch to Bayern Munich.
But Haaland had links to the Premier League, and City, through his father, while he also admits it is the league that is watched in Norway.
Those two factors, combined with Pep Guardiola and City needing a striker, saw Haaland move to City and the rest, as they say, is history.
"In Norway, it's the league we watch, [Premier League] everyone in Norway's got a team, you know.
"Also when my father played in [the] Premier League, you kind of get dragged a bit into it, don't you, I think.
"In the end, when this opportunity came with Pep and, of course, trying to be a part of the history when I signed was, I don't know the name, intriguing.
"In the end, it worked out, which I knew it was going to, and it's been amazing so far.
"I think also timing is really important, with coming into City, they needed a striker and all of this was also something that triggered me.
"Pep's been playing a little bit without a striker and he loves to keep the ball.
"So then I was thinking, imagine me coming in and Ederson just hanging the ball in behind and me running, scoring, you know, is also kind of a thing that triggered me a little bit to break up the game a bit and also show Pep's side that he can also be direct, not only passing the ball."
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