Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in the world.
The Norwegian superstar has been a major hit ever since he moved to the Etihad Stadium during the summer of 2022, as the 24-year-old has produced an impressive 121 goals and 20 assists across 142 matches for City.
There is no arguing that this season has been the striker’s worst in a Man City shirt, as Haaland has received criticism from Alan Shearer and many other pundits for some of his performances.
This has been down to Pep Guardiola’s team struggling as a whole, in addition to the forward suffering from injury issues.
ESPN have put three strikers ahead of Haaland in their top 10 strikers of the season list, and when it was put to Jan Åge Fjørtoft, the Norwegian’s friend agreed with two of them.
Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski have been better than Erling Haaland
ESPN’s Top 100 for the 2024/25 campaign came out recently, and topping the strikers list was Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, who was followed by Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, and Haaland.
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When this was put to Fjortoft, who played with Haaland’s father, Alf Inge, and has remained in close contact with both his former international team-mate and his son since, the Norwegian pundit was alright with Mbappe and Lewandowski being ahead of his countryman.
“Mbappe scored 41 goals this season, and everybody said he had a terrible season. Around 40 goals for Lewandowski. I can live with that,” Fjortoft said on ESPN FC. “I can’t maybe Erling Haaland with Kane, but getting a title that is quite rare, so I guess when they are similar, you go there.
“Erling Haaland played in a terrible Man City team, who never did one cross, and they didn’t do one counterattack, and he scored 31 goals, which is not bad.”
“He has been the best striker over the last couple of years, Erling Haaland, and this season he has been part of a (struggling) Man City team. I would have probably put him above Harry Kane, but I can live with Lewandowski and Mbappe.”
Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak recently stated that Haaland does not want any vacation time this summer, as the 24-year-old is eager to make up for his performance last season, which could be a scary thing for opponents throughout the 2025/26 campaign.
Haaland did not enjoy last season; therefore, putting Mbappe and Lewandowski above the Man City star does seem fair.
How Erling Haaland compares to Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski
Out of the three strikers, Lewandowski would have enjoyed his season the most. Not only did he score plenty of goals, but the Polish superstar also helped Barcelona to three trophies, only missing out on the Champions League.
Both Haaland and Mbappe went the campaign trophyless, but individually, the two forwards did their best to help their clubs.
Player Games Goals Assists Minutes
Robert Lewandowski 52 42 3 3930
Kylian Mbappe 56 43 5 4610
Erling Haaland 44 31 4 3786
Given the minutes played and the trophies won, Lewandowski seemingly had the best season of the trio, despite Mbappe producing more goal contributions.
At 36 years of age, this is incredibly impressive from the Polish star; however, the Barcelona star might not be there for long as Haaland will want to win back his crown as the best striker in the world next season.