Haaland says he is far off Ronaldo and Messi but in ‘good way’ to beat goal tally

Erling Haaland believes he is not close to being on the same level as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo but the Manchester City striker says he is in “a good way” to beat his best total return of 56 goals in a season.

After Sunday’s 3-1 win against Bournemouth Pep Guardiola again compared Haaland’s numbers to Messi and Ronaldo, with City’s manager adding how the Argentinean and Portuguese were consistent over “15 seasons”. Haaland was asked if he views himself on the same level. “No, not at all, far off. No one can get close to them, so no,” the 25-year-old said.

This season Haaland has already scored 26 times in 16 appearances in all competitions, registering 13 Premier League strikes, four in the Champions League, and nine for Norway. City could play a maximum of 52 more games this term, while Norway could have 12 more matches if they reach the World Cup final plus a yet to be decided number of friendlies.

Haaland was asked if he can beat his best ever tally of 2022-3. “Yeah I had 56 in total with the national team, so I’m on a good way,” he said. “I don’t think of this.”

Alan Shearer, whose 260 Premier League goals is the competition high, believes Haaland will break his record. “I don’t really know any records, but this one I know,” said the centre-forward. “I can’t think about records I can break – I try to help the team win football games. I know it’s boring, I know you want me to say the complete opposite, but it’s not how it is.”

Haaland’s two goals against Bournemouth came via breaks in which he kept onside. The striker joked regarding how many times he has not done so since joining City in summer 2022. “I’m never offside – come on,” he said. “From when I came to City I’ve been offside 18 times. So 18 times in three and a half years is OK. I hate to be offside. If you are offside now with VAR, there’s no chance [of not being caught]. VAR helped me even more because you get the decision as simple as that. When you barely go offside, there’s a good chance that if there’s an offside situation, most likely I will not be offside.”

In the summer Guardiola selected Haaland to be in City’s leadership group, the Catalan pointing to his humble nature as a reason why. Haaland said: “For me it’s completely normal – I’m a Norwegian guy, and I should not think I am something just because I’m scoring goals, it’s as simple as that. I’m just Erling, and this is something that will never change.”

City host Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s fourth Champions League group game, with both teams on seven points. The squad will train on the morning of the match as the manager allowed his players an extra rest day on Tuesday.

“I’ve done it a few times,” Guardiola said. “Maybe not a lot but a few times – sometimes I prefer it [that we] don’t see each other. Bournemouth was so demanding that I prefer they stay at home and tomorrow morning we train.”