'No one can get close to them!' - Man City terminator Erling Haaland rubbishes Pep Guardiola's claim he's on same level as Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo

While no doubt flattered by the comparison from Guardiola, who oversaw Messi's rise from talented teenager to history-defining megastar during four years in charge at Barcelona, Haaland chose to bat away the idea that he is matching one or both of the all-time greats.  

"No, not at all!" he insisted when Guardiola's comments were put to him by reporters. "No one can get close to them two, so no…"

He added, "I am just Erling, a Norwegian guy scoring goals. That won't change." 

After Haaland scored twice against Bournemouth, Guardiola played down the idea that Manchester City are too reliant on the Norwegian striker for goals – no other player in the squad has netted more than once in the Premier League this season, and their second top scorer is 'own goal' (2). 

Guardiola's argument after that match is that having someone as dominant as Haaland in a team is naturally going to see that individual dominate the goalscoring.

"This is what it's like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo, his influence is so big," the boss said.

"You see the numbers of that guy? Of course he's that level. Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level. The first goal, the way he shoots the ball, it's like 'I am going to score'. He has that hunger. It's top. I said how incredibly coachable and manageable he is.

"I am tough sometimes with Haaland, but he is open-minded. He lives for the goals and sometimes the pressure cannot sustain 90 minutes, but that's normal. Without him it would be tough to be honest, but we are lucky that Omar is back, and we have fit players, it's good."

Haaland already has the Premier League single-season goal record, netting 36 times during the 2022-23 campaign. At his current rate of 1.3 goals per game in the league, he's on course for 49 if he can keep that level up, which would be a remarkable achievement. No player in England's top flight has gone over 40 league goals in a single season since the late Jimmy Greaves did it for Chelsea, scoring 41 times in 1960-61. The all-time league record in England is 60, set by Everton legend Dixie Dean, and has stood for almost a century since 1927-28.  

Across all competitions, Haaland's rate of goals per game is also 1.3. With City due to play at least 35 more times in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup - and perhaps many more given that progression in Europe and the domestic cups is expected, Haaland could exceed 60 club goals in total for the season. That would make it his best season of an illustrious career so far and rival the kind of numbers that Messi and Ronaldo were putting up at their respective Barcelona and Real Madrid pomp. Messi went over 40 goals across all competitions for 10 successive seasons between 2009 and 2019, but only exceeded 60 twice in his career. Ronaldo similarly found 40 goals a piece of cake, but again hit 60 or more just twice, underlining the kind of all-time great season that Haaland is embarking upon if he can keep up this pace.

If Haaland continues to freely score goals over the coming weeks, he certainly cannot be accused of stat padding against weaker teams. City are due to face Borussia Dortmund, his former club, in the Champions League on Wednesday, before subsequent Premier League clashes with Liverpool and Newcastle United. Things then get a little more straightforward with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, and Leeds United in the Premier League to come before the end of November.