A little over a month ago, Erling Haaland became the fastest player in Champions League history to reach 50 goals - to celebrate, the Manchester City striker decided to partake in his usual post-match protocol of having an ice bath.
It was nearing one o’clock in the morning but nothing was going to stop the Norway international, who has now yielded 24 goals in all competitions already this season after scoring against Villarreal on Tuesday.
“Sometimes in life you’ve got to do things you really don’t want to do,” Haaland said before stepping into the freezing temperatures. “And right now, one of the last things I want to do is go in an ice bath.”
As humorous as it was to watch the situation unfold, the 25-year-old’s commitment to his craft is next to none, and it’s why he is widely regarded as the **Premier League**’s greatest ever goalscorer; he may even be the world’s greatest.
Haaland scored against Villarreal on Tuesday (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/Getty Images)
Since that record-breaking goal, which came at the Etihad Stadium against Napoli on September 18, Haaland’s form has only improved and having scored against Villarreal on Tuesday, he equalled the record of Cristiano Ronaldo by netting in his 12th consecutive game.
Equally, it was his 53rd goal in 51 appearances in the competition and he could very well be in the running to break another record this season. Eight players have scored more than Haaland in the Champions League all-time charts but only Lionel Messi has recorded more by scoring 59 goals before his 26th birthday. Haaland turns 26 in the summer of 2026, meaning he has the rest of this campaign to overtake the Inter Miami icon.
He has also been projected, judging off his current scoring rate, to overtake Alan Shearer in the all-time Premier League scoring list substantially. The current record is 260, and although Haaland is only on 96, his trajectory predicts that, by the end of his contract that has nine years left on it, he will be at 389 goals.
By that time, the forward will be nearing 34 years of age which, at the highest level, obviously isn’t sustainable. But other records suggest that we are witnessing the greatest ever scorer in history regardless of numbers and statistics.
Just the sheer power of Haaland is enough from a viewer’s perspective to see how clinical a finisher he is, not least because of the way he bullies defenders off the ball with his strength and height.
“Can you tell me one club who wouldn’t want Haaland as a dream?”, Guardiola told journalists ahead of his side’s trip to Brentford at the start of the month. That, coincidentally, was a game where he made the difference as City dominated throughout to win 1-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
But Guardiola’s right. There aren’t many clubs who can say they have the best striker in the world, but there’s certainly close competition across Europe, starting with Harry Kane.
The Bayern Munich forward is in the form of his life and, with his goal against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday night, he took his season tally to 20 goals in 12 games, neither Messi or Ronaldo scored their first 20 goals in a season in as few games as that.
Kane is considered one of the best scorers of this generation (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
It’s key to note that Kane also proved his individual value in the Premier League during his time at Tottenham Hotspur. He made 320 appearances for the North London club, scoring 213 during that time which has put him in second place in the all-time list.
But there is evidence that Haaland could be deemed greater than Kane on a goalscoring basis, solely judging off his minutes-per-goal ratio. From a Premier League standpoint, Haaland has a rate of 1.17 goals per 90 minutes, meaning he scores, on average, every 85-92 minutes in the English top-flight. Kane, on the other hand, scored every 127 minutes when he was at Spurs.
In terms of recent form, Haaland and Kane are equally impressive, with both scoring their 100th goals in 105 and 104 games respectively; Haaland, of course, doing so in a much more competitive league.
Mbappe has scored 18 goals for club and country this season (Photo by Diego Souto/Getty Images)
Another contender is Kylian Mbappe, who has been soaring this season under Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid. So recently has Mbappe been ruthless that he has scored 15 goals in 12 games in LaLiga and the Champions League - he scored in 11 consecutive games before missing the mark against Juventus on Wednesday which ended that streak.
The Real forward went on a similar streak for club and country at the end of last season after a doubtful first campaign with the LaLiga giants, but still there is little argument against Haaland, who continues to defy the image that the Premier League is the toughest league in the world.