As pundits hail Erling Haaland as the heir to Cristiano Ronaldo’s throne, the Norwegian striker is proving why he could be the next football legend in the making.
The Premier League discovered a gem in Cristiano Ronaldo way back in 2003 when he signed for Manchester United. It has been more than two decades now, with the Portuguese legend cementing his status as one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. The 39-year-old scored 103 goals and provided 36 assists in 236 PL games. Ronaldo went on to break a plethora of records at Real Madrid and went on to win five UEFA Champions League titles and five Ballon d’Ors in his majestic career.
But there is one more player, a Norwegian beast who is scoring at a pace that no one ever did. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has scored 70 goals in 69 games in the PL, seven of them coming in just three appearances this season.
Haaland has the blueprint to be the ‘next Cristiano Ronaldo’
Ian Wright believes that the 24-year-old is following Ronaldo’s footsteps, and he is doing everything that the Manchester United legend once did in the English league.
In a recent talk with the Kelly and Wrighty show (via Optus Sports), the pundit said: “He’s already operating off the field like a Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s what Cristiano Ronaldo has spawned, players like that. And he’s doing in at 22, 23. If he carries on, he will score those goals.”
Haaland has left many stunned by his phenomenal goal-scoring statistics. Even Perry Groves recently stated that the City star’s goal-scoring stats are similar to those of the modern greats, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo.
Goals stats at the age of 24:
🇳🇴 Erling Haaland
— 257 goals
— 0.82 G/g🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
— 197 goals
— 0.6 G/g🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo
— 132 goals
— 0.36 G/gMonster. pic.twitter.com/7cajMXgyME
— Abdul 🈴 (@bagofnuts_) August 22, 2024
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The former Borussia Dortmund ace is an out-and-out number nine, so you would expect his figures to stand up to them. But they don’t just stand up to both legendary attackers; he is doing really well at his age.
Ronaldo started as a winger at Old Trafford after joining from Sporting Lisbon. He later matured into a goalscorer, a lethal number nine. Similarly, Haaland has improved his movements and decision making in the box, and his numbers are just staggering. He can surpass them if he stays injury-free.
The 24-year-ols is playing for a powerful team like Manchester City, who are creating huge number of chances for him. Scoring 263 goals in 317 games is outstanding.
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It’s difficult to be so clinical and have every single goal in the bag. Haaland has been doing that consistently for the past few years. Incredible player.
