Erling Haaland dismissed as 'ultimate luxury player' as Man City star told what he must change to win Ballon d'Or

Although the 23-year-old striker has amassed an impressive tally of 82 goals in 90 appearances for City since his move to England, scrutiny surrounding his all-round performance persists, prompting discussions on his ability to transcend into a complete player.

Carragher stressed that to achieve true world-class status, Haaland must demonstrate influence beyond goal-scoring, akin to Premier League legends Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez, or Harry Kane who made crucial contributions in attack apart from scoring goals.

Carragher in his column in The Telegraph, wrote: "Erling Haaland is the ultimate luxury footballer. He is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest goal-scorers but is yet to become a world-class player. To be truly world-class you need more than one, all-encompassing trait. Think of the best Premier League strikers of the last 20 years – Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez or Harry Kane – and they had or have a major influence on the biggest matches whether they scored or not. All of them could play for any side in the world and contribute more than an impressive strike-rate.

"In general play, Haaland is not at the same level as these strikers yet, his three most recent games against top-class centre-backs confirming that for all his brilliance inside the penalty area, he is a work-in-progress out of it. Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba and Antonio Rudiger bullied Haaland, the much-hyped showdowns between top defenders and a goal machine were nothing of the sort. They were a mismatch rather than a match-up."

Carragher suggested that Haaland must make significant adjustments to his game to compete with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and increase his chances of winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or.

"If his sole interest is breaking goalscoring records, he does not need to change anything," the former player said. "If he has serious ambitions to win the Ballon d’Or and play for Real Madrid, he may have a problem. He must add more to his game to make that leap and to seriously challenge his rival to the title of the best player of his generation, Kylian Mbappe."

Roy Keane, the Manchester United legend, echoed similar sentiments to Carragher and regarded Haaland's overall play as that of a League Two player in a scathing assessment of the striker. The pressure mounts for Haaland to translate his immense talent into consistent performances across all facets of the game as City head into the business end of the season with a match against Luton Town next on Saturday followed by a decisive second-leg quarterfinal clash in the Champions League against Real Madrid on Wednesday.