'Grown man playing with kids!' – Erling Haaland described as 'superhuman' now that he's back to his very best with Man City

No player other than Haaland has achieved the feat of reaching double figures in Premier League goals by match number eight, but the Norwegian powerhouse has achieved it in three of his four years for City. If he continues scoring at his current rate, he will score an unprecedented 52 goals this season. Logic dictates that is nigh-on impossible, but logic clearly has not met Haaland.

The 25-year-old could conceivably reach 100 Premier League goals by early November, his total of 96 leaving four goals to go ahead of matchups with Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Liverpool and a Champions League clash with former club Borussia Dortmund sandwiched in between. The fastest player to the landmark is currently the division’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer, who managed the feat in 124 games – Haaland has played just 105 so far. He is a truly generational goalscorer, and then some - the greatest that English football has ever seen, according to Jamie Carragher.

Though Haaland himself still feels he has a challenge on his hands to win the European Golden Boot ahead of Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe.

"The man is an absolute phenomenon," former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "He was walking about and looking fairly disinterested in the game. We had hardly mentioned his name. The ball has landed to him twice and never for a millisecond do you think it's going to end up anywhere but the goal.

"The thing with Haaland when you see him at his very best is that he just looks like a grown man playing with kids. He has got that back again hasn't he? People just bounce off him, his pace is extraordinary and he looks superhuman. He is alive again."

Former Premier League striker Glenn Murray said on Final Score: "The scary thing is, he has become more complete this season. He is a better footballer than when he arrived at Manchester City and scored all those goals. He was just a goalscorer then, I think his all-round game is improving."

The aforementioned Shearer added on BBC Match of the Day: "If you are building from scratch what you want as the ideal centre-forward. Look at Haaland. He has goals, pace, strength, is good in the air. Doesn't mind being roughed up, it doesn't bother him if he doesn't have many touches. He is almost perfect."

City boss Pep Guardiola said of Haaland following Saturday's victory: "Sergio [Aguero] scored a lot of goals with his head but the presence from Erling, his stature is huge. I am really pleased, not just for the incredible threat to the opponent but [that] we found him much more than the first half. That is really important, when you have these players you have to use them. Erling lives for it. Our delivery of passes has been better and Erling is our key man right now.

"[I'm] disappointed he did not score four or five," Guardiola added. "All jokes aside, really pleased but we cannot rely on just him, we need other players [to score]. Wingers, attacking midfielders. They have to make a step up and score goals. We play to provide Erling with quality and passing but other players have to step up. The chances were clear, and they have to score. At this level they have to demand themselves. Chances from Savinho and Jeremy [Doku] and Tijjani [Reijnders] - they have to score. They have to do it otherwise we can't do what we want to do."

Toffees manager David Moyes explained a conversation he had with Haaland at full-time: "I wish he had been somewhere else! Most managers will be thinking the same."

He added: "I thought in the main we did a really good job. But then how can you say that? He scored two goals. The second one was a bit scruffy and we had not given him too many opportunities.

"Later on in the game, I give great credit to our goalkeeper, the way he defended Haaland one-v-one because we had opened up trying to get a goal."