Former Barcelona star Hristo Stoichkov says that he believes that Erling Haaland would be more effective than Kylian Mbappe with the Spanish giants currently, but he also believes that the legendary Johan Cruyff would have preferred a system involving the French star.
Haaland and Mbappe have risen to the top of the game in recent years, with the duo pegged by many to be the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Virtually every team in world football would love to bring in the duo, with Barca among those sides linked, but Stoichkov says he believes differentiating between the pair comes down to a matter of opinion more than anything else.
What did Stoichkov say?
“With two or three signings you can make a very competitive team," he told Goal. "You need a left back because Alba is going to be killed, and I would sign Alaba because he can play you in three different positions and very well in all three. And then a Haaland or an Mbappe.
He added: “I think that with Barcelona's system, Haaland can be more effective. But if the coach were Cruyff, I already can tell you that I would sign Mbappe first. He would play without a number nine and he would play with [Ousmane] Dembele and Mbappe and [Lionel] Messi organizing."
Comparing the two
Both Mbappe and Haaland have been in excellent form this season with both firing their teams to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Mbappe has 28 goals in 35 appearances this season as PSG are in a dogfight atop the Ligue 1 table.
Haaland, meanwhile, has scored 31 goals in 30 games, taking his total to 47 goals in 48 games since making the move to Borussia Dortmund.