Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has compared Erling Haaland’s goalscoring output to that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Haaland has started the season in a scintillating manner and is almost carrying the Cityzens single-handedly.

The Norwegian superstar has scored 17 goals in 13 games across competitions so far this season. He has 13 Premier League goals in 10 games so far and is the only Manchester City player to score more than one goal.

Pep Guardiola has claimed that Erling Haaland is as influential with his number as Messi and Ronaldo were in their peaks. He hailed the striker’s hunger and his ethics on and off the pitch. The former Barcelona manager said, as quoted by the Cityzens’ official website:

“This is what it’s like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo, his influence is so big. You see the numbers of that guy? Of course, he’s that level. Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level. The first goal, the way he shoots the ball, it’s like, ‘I am going to score’. He has that hunger. It’s top. I said how incredibly coachable and manageable he is.”

The former Bayern Munich manager admitted that his side would have been struggling if they did not have someone like Haaland up front. He added:

“I am tough sometimes with Haaland, but he is open-minded. He lives for the goals and sometimes the pressure cannot sustain 90 minutes, but that’s normal. Without him, it would be tough to be honest, but we are lucky that Omar [Marmoush] is back, and we have fit players. It’s good.”

Erling Haaland’s goalscoring numbers are nothing short of extraordinary and he is still only just 25 years of age. He has scored 141 goals in 159 games for Manchester City so far, having previously netted 86 goals in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund. He has 51 goals in 46 caps for Norway.

When Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate opened up on time at Barcelona alongside Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo’s international teammate Fransisco Trincao has revealed how Lionel Messi greeted him during his time at Barcelona. The now-Sporting CP winger spent a brief period together with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner at Camp Nou.

Trincao has revealed that Argentine and Uruguayan players greeted players with kisses and it was unusual for him at first. He said, via GOAL:

“At first, it was a bit strange, because culturally, in Argentina and Uruguay, they kiss a lot to greet each other, and it was strange for Messi to greet me with a kiss every time I arrived at the academy. Then I got used to it, but in the first few weeks it was difficult.”

He added:

“On the pitch, he was very calm. He set an example more than he spoke to us, he helped us on the pitch, where we should go and what to do. He would tell us something and we would accept it because what he said was true.”

Trincao was on the books of Barcelona between 2020 and 2023 but failed to impress at the club. He had two loan spells with Wolves and Sporting CP away from the club before joining the latter permanently. He played 34 games alongside Messi and had three joint goal participations. He has also shared the pitch with Ronaldo on 11 occasions so far.