“You don’t have to be a genius to see that he breaks all records if he keeps up that scoring pace. He has incredible ambition,” said an admiring Pep Guardiola
Haaland is going to break all the records
Erling Haaland made his first Premier League appearance on August 7. Since then, the ground stops growing in the areas he sweeps, and score records accumulate up for a No.9, which overwrites them. “You don’t have to be a genius to see that he breaks all records if he keeps up that scoring pace. He has incredible ambition,” said an admiring Pep Guardiola, who has scored 21 goals in 15 games on his debut in the Premier League. His impact has been such in England that in 2022 only Harry Kane (26 goals) tops his Premier League numbers with just 15 games. “He’s a kid who enjoys his life and takes football very seriously. He loves to score and is obsessed with scoring,” said Kevin de Bruyne, his best teammate on and off the pitch.
The striker knows where the ball ends up
“He has already scored almost 200 goals and will probably reach 600, 700 or 800 in his career if he stays healthy.” Half of KDB’s ten passes in the Premier League ended up in the Norwegian’s boots and then in the net. He is insatiable. “He’s got incredible instincts. He knows where the ball ends up, and he’s there a second before the ball arrives,” said Guardiola, who has fueled the perfect storm that is moving the English league goal line. “He’s done it in Norway, Austria, Germany and now in England. He smells the goal. We’re fortunate to have him with us. The boundaries are disappearing with Haaland. Against Chelsea, Manchester City will look to close the gap to the leaders – they are eight points behind Arsenal with the game in hand – with weapons of mass destruction, that is Erling Haaland at the front.
More goals than the legendary top scorers in the English league
At Stamford Bridge, the striker will close out the first round of a season in which his numbers would have made him the top scorer in five seasons in the Premier League era. He has already scored more goals than the top scorers in 1997-98. 1998-99, 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2010-11. In addition, he has a shot at 23, added by Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min last season, Harry Kane in 2020-21 and Vardy in 2019-20. In London, he could also equal the 22 goals Salah, Mane, and Aubameyang got in their Premier League Golden Boot in the 2018-19 campaign. After 15 games, only Luis Suarez, with 20 goals in 2013-14, has come close to a record that puts him on course to reach 52 goals if he maintains that infernal pace (1.4 goals per match).
Erling has half a Premier League to spare
If he doesn’t slow down, Haaland will break Leo Messi’s big five goals in a season (50 with Barcelona in La Liga 2011-12) and in the Premier League to 38 games (32 Salah (Liverpool) in 2017-18) and 42 (34 Andy Cole (Newcastle) in 1993-94 and the same number of Alan Shearer (Blackburn) in 1994-95). However, he would have needed more than Dixie Dean’s 60 goals (Everton) in the 1927-28 campaign. Erling, who has only failed to score against Bournemouth, Liverpool and Brentford in the Premier League this season, is ahead of the world’s second-highest scorer (Kane, 15 goals) and has club numbers. He has more goals than Wolves (11), Forest (13), Everton (14), West Ham (15), Southampton (15), Crystal Palace (17), Bournemouth (18), and Aston Villa (20). “Erling didn’t come to Manchester to make numbers; he came here to win,” Guardiola warned.