He’s the Scot who had a better strike rate in league football than Erling Haaland last season.
Now Declan McManus is bidding to join the Manchester City superstar on the biggest stage of them all.
Former Aberdeen, Ross County and Dunfermline striker McManus admits he wasn’t sure what to expect when he left Scottish football behind for a new adventure with The New Saints two years ago.
But after winning back-to-back Welsh league Player of the Year and Golden Boot awards with the ambitious Oswestry-based club, the Glasgow-born 28-year-old insists there’s now no place he’d rather be.
McManus has his sights set on making history with The New Saints this season as they try to become the first Welsh club to play group stage European football.
They play the first leg of a tough Champions League first qualifying round tie against Swedish title holders Hacken in Gothenburg on Wednesday.
McManus has scored 60 goals in 71 games for The New Saints so far. His tally of 26 in 23 league games last season earned him a better goal-per-game ratio than Haaland's 36 in 35 Premier outings for English champs City. “Hopefully I can continue building on what I’ve already achieved at the club,” he said.
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“It has definitely surpassed all my expectations. At the time, it was something I wanted to go and try - a nice change, to test myself somewhere else.
“To be Player of the Year and win the Golden Boot in both seasons is something I would never have expected. I’ve enjoyed every single minute.
“I’m still enjoying it. I don’t see why I won’t be staying at the club longer term, unless something else came out of the blue.
“I’m happy where I am. My missus and the kids have also settled well. We live in Chester which is a lovely place and we are all enjoying life down there. So there’s no reason for me to be looking elsewhere. It’s been a really pleasant change in all aspects of my life.”
McManus already has six European goals to his credit for The New Saints who reached the third qualifying round of the Conference League two years ago where they lost on penalties to Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
“It’s all been a whirlwind, when you throw in the European experiences as well,” he said.
“It’s a huge step up with some of the teams we face. Viktoria Plzen went on to play in the Champions League group stage last season.
“Six of their starters against us played in every Champions League game. We are up against another really good side in Hacken. Their main striker Benie Traore is clearly a danger - I see he’s been linked with both Celtic and Rangers.
“I think Hacken are stronger now than when Aberdeen beat them a couple of years ago. They beat Malmo to win the title last year.
“It’s another huge challenge. But we have shown we can step up and make it difficult for any team on our day.
“I think this is probably the hardest draw we could have got. But if we could get through, then we’d only be one game away from group stage football. It’s a big carrot for us and hopefully we can achieve it.
“No-one will be expecting us to do anything in Sweden. It was the same against Plzen but we ended up taking them all the way to penalties. Hopefully we can recreate that kind of performance.
“Welsh club football is definitely on the way up. We are seen as the big fish but in my time there, the standard has definitely got higher among the other clubs.
“There is more investment, both from the club owners and the Welsh FA.
“I think The New Saints would definitely hold our own in the Scottish Championship and maybe even be challenging for the top flight.”
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