Erling Haaland, insatiable scoring machine

Traditionally the little friend of the classic 9, Pep Guardiola surrenders Erling Braut Haaland (Leeds, 2000). IN Manchester City Exploring ways to success from the pass, the Norwegian striker is a free verse who barely tries to combine with his teammates an average of ten times per game. His robotic performance justifies his apparent lack of understanding of the movement and possession game he practices citizens. In barely 31 games since his arrival in England, collects 32 goals between league competitions, Carabao Cup and Champions League.

In the middle of the course, the 22-year-old striker has surpassed the last four top scorers in the Premier League. Salah and Son shared that distinction last year with 23 goals, the same as Kane and Vardy scored in the two previous editions, and one more than Salah, Mané and Aubameyang alone celebrated in 2018-19. Haaland has 26 in just 23 appearances and 24 days.

If he maintains his current progress, it seems only a matter of weeks – perhaps a few months – that the Premier League’s best tally in thirty years will also be too little for him. Alan Shearer shared it for Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95, and Andy Cole for Newcastle the previous season, with 34 goals. Next up is the nearly century-old record of Dixie Dean, who signed sixty in one league.

Erling is also the outstanding Golden Boot leader. In Europe, he is closest to compatriot Amahl Pellegrino with 25 goals, but he has scored in 27 games for Bodø-Glimt in his home league, which is 14.5 points less than the City superstar. Uzbek Bobur Abdikholikov also signed 26, in 30 games, in Belarus, but he only scores a few points there every now and then. In the big leagues, the likes of Víctor Osimhen at 18, Harry Kane at 17 and Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé at 14 are far from keeping up with him.

The Nordic giant has also overtaken Kevin Phillips as the fastest footballer to reach 25 goals in the Premier League. He needed 19 appearances, while the previous record was 26. According to Mister Chip, the next on that table are Andy Cole, who achieved it after 27 days, and Alan Shearer and Fernando Torres, 34.

At the end of January, against Wolves, the Norwegian predator needed 14 minutes (between 40 and 54) to sign a hat-trick and seal a 3:0 defeat to Galicians Hugo Bueno and Jonny Otto.

it was his room hat trick in just 19 games in the Premier League. According to Besoccer Pro, no one has reached that figure so quickly in England. Ruud van Nistelrooy needed 65 games, Luis Suárez achieved it in 81 and Alan Shearer in 86. For his part, Harry Kane had to wait 107 appearances and Agüero 120 to take three balls home.

Crush Messi and Cristiano

Other proven goal-scoring legends couldn’t score as many hat-tricks during even longer UK careers. Fernando Torres scored three in 212 chances for Chelsea and Liverpool; the same as Cristiano Ronaldo defended Manchester United in 236 days.

Haaland, who has already amassed 16 games with three goals since his professional debut at Molde, has half a season left to match his five hat trick Alan Shearer 1995-96. In total career, Leo Messi has 56 and Cristiano 60 further, although his progress is clearly greater. The Norwegian is 22 years and seven months old, an age in which the Argentine star managed only two, and the Portuguese none.

He has a long way to go to reach 821 goals as a professional for the Al-Nassr striker and 796 for the new world champion, but his current evolution is much more exciting, even dismissing his records in less competitive tournaments with Molde and Salzburg. Still under 23, Haaland scored 218 goals, 89 of them in 90 league games with Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City. In his first 89 days of playing in one of five Premier League games, Messi didn’t add half and Cristiano didn’t add twenty. The Norwegian is also close to the 225 official goals of Mbappé, the oldest by a year and a half, in Monaco and PSG.

Like the speedy French striker, Haaland wants to start drinking the honey of great collective success at the Etihad. Individually, little more can be asked of the 1.94-metre Viking, meticulous in his physical care and capable of covering the pitch from zone to zone in 6.64 seconds, according to reports from Rai Italia in the match between Dortmund and PSG in the Champions League. and his son citizen Alf-Inge (whose career was ended by Roy Keane in a vile attack) who is an excellent Michu idol, knows what it is to score nine goals in the U-20 World Cup match against Honduras, and he scored 122 seconds after his debut in the biggest continental competition with Salzburg.

His twenty-sixth Premier League goal helped Manchester City take a brief lead against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. It is in Guardiola’s hands to take advantage of his unparalleled numbers and go further than ever.