Erling Haaland is continuing to have a sensational season with Manchester City with the 22-year-old quickly establishing himself as one of the best strikers on the planet.
With 27 goals in 24 Premier League fixtures, Erling Haaland is now the top contender to win the Golden Boot award this season. The youngster is just seven goals short of breaking a 30-year-old record of most goals scored in a Premier League season with 13 matches still to be played by Manchester City.
The Norwegian joined the Citizens ahead of the season amidst huge expectations with the club agreeing to pay a hefty sum to activate his €60 million release clause. The youngster has paid back the trust placed in him by Pep Guardiola, becoming the leading man for Manchester City in their quest to defend the Premier League title in an otherwise mixed season.
Amidst rumours of a potential move to Real Madrid in the next summer transfer window, here’s a look at how the youngster fared with Manchester City so far.
Stellar debut
Erling Haaland made his debut with Manchester City in their FA Community Shield game against Liverpool with the Citizens losing the game 3-1. Pep Guardiola and the management at the Etihad Stadium were long on the hunt for an ideal replacement for Sergio Aguero – their all-time leading goalscorer who left the club last season.
Erling Haaland was expected to become a core part of the team’s starting XI gradually, but Pep Guardiola accelerated the youngster’s role in the squad by including him in the starting XI right away.
The 22-year-old made his Premier League debut on 7th August, scoring twice against West Ham United. Later that month, the Norwegian started his purple patch with the Citizens, scoring two back-to-back hat-tricks. The second one was a perfect hat-trick against Nottingham Forest, making him the quickest player in the history of the Premier League to score two hat-tricks. He followed it up with a hat-trick at home against arch-rivals Manchester United, becoming the only player in Premier League history to score three successive hat-tricks at home.
To add to his list of achievements with Manchester City, Erling Haaland has averaged a goal each game in the current UEFA Champions League season. With 27 goals in 24 Premier League fixtures, Erling Haaland is now the leading goalscorer in the Premier League.
The youngster still has 13 more games to go in the league and is looking at making history by smashing the record for the most goals scored in a season by a player.
Records to be broken
The current record for most goals scored in a season in the Premier League belongs to two individuals, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.
Andy Cole scored 34 goals for Newcastle United in the 1993-94 season, while Alan Shearer repeated the feat with Blackburn Rovers in the 1994-95 season. But the league calendar consisted of 42 games back then compared to just 38 games now.
The record for most goals in the current format of the league belongs to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who smashed 32 goals for the Reds in the 2017-18 season.
With 13 games in hand, it is now a foregone conclusion that Erling Haaland will break both of these records. His likely target for the season, however, will be Lionel Messi’s record of 50 goals.
The Argentinian legend smashed a record 50 goals during the 2011-12 La Liga season for Barcelona, a feat yet to be surpassed by any player.
Manchester City’s prospects
While Erling Haaland continues on his stellar show, Manchester City themselves are struggling to catch up with Arsenal in the Premier League title race. A draw against Nottingham Forest last month put Arsenal once again in the driving seat, with the Citizens now five points behind the Gunners in the title race.
Pep Guardiola is having a difficult time on the European stage as well with the Citizens still needing to focus their efforts on qualifying for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League after a dull 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Round of 16 fixture against RB Leipzig.
Off-the-field troubles loom on the horizon for the club with the Premier League appointing a commission to finalise the Financial Fair Play penalties that will likely be imposed on the club.
Manchester City will face Newcastle United tonight in an all-important fixture with the Magpies aiming for a Champions League slot next season.
Talks with Real Madrid
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland’s agent has confirmed rumours that he will look to move to Real Madrid in the near future. Brazilian lawyer Rafaela Pimenta, who was appointed as Erling Haaland’s lead manager last year, said that while the Premier League is an attractive destination for the youngster since Real Madrid remains a “dreamland” for every player.
Real Madrid could make a move for the Norwegian after their talks to sign Kylian Mbappe collapsed during the last transfer window. The lack of a key player at the front is keenly being felt by Los Blancos, who are currently trailing Barcelona in the La Liga title race.
Erling Haaland has a hefty €200 million release clause at the end of next season, and it remains to be seen if Real Madrid would find the deal worthwhile.
●●●
VISIT OUR BLOG TO GET YOUR FIX FOR ALL OF THE MOST CURRENT FOOTBALL NEWS STORIES & FEATURES
