This weekend, 22-year-old Norwegian football player
may break Mohamed Salah’s record of 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season. Leicester, a team currently facing relegation, is set to face Manchester City, the team for which Haaland is playing.
Haaland’s goal in Manchester City’s 3-0 win against Bayern Munich this week was his 11th in the Champions League this season and his 45th for the club in all competitions. Haaland has played just 39 games so far, compared to the 52 games that it took Van Nistelrooy and Salah to score 44 goals.
Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who played for Bayern and City, described Haaland as the “most efficient striker” he has ever seen and praised his “out of this world” goal-scoring abilities.
Haaland’s current goal-scoring rate, which is more than one goal per game, has helped him to hit a purple patch recently, with 11 goals in his last four games, including five in City’s 7-0 home win against RB Leipzig. Haaland’s statistics for City show that he is a potent all-round threat, with 28 goals with his favoured left foot, 10 with his right, and seven with his head.
Although it seems unlikely that Haaland will break Dixie Dean’s all-time English record of 63 goals set in the 1927/28 season, his mark of 60 in the top-flight in that campaign will likely remain intact, with Haaland currently on 30.
There are a maximum of 15 games remaining for Manchester City this season, including nine in the league, the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern, a likely semi-final over two legs, and a possible final. There is also an FA Cup semi-final against Championship side Sheffield United, with City favourites to progress to the final.
Former Bayern and Germany striker Mario Gomez has described Haaland as a “monster” and a “beast”. Haaland’s 45 goals for City this season break his previous best goal-scoring season, during which he netted a total of 44 goals, 28 for Salzburg and 16 for Dortmund in 2019/20.
Although Haaland’s goal-scoring prowess has raised questions about whether he has disrupted Manchester City’s smooth-functioning team, the team is still in pursuit of a rare treble of Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup titles.
While Haaland’s goalscoring abilities have already broken records, including Tommy Johnson’s haul of 38 goals, which had stood since 1929, he still has other records to beat. For example, Lionel Messi netted an impressive 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona in 2011/12, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 17 Champions League goals for Real Madrid in 2013/14 seems like a tough one to match. Despite these challenges, there is nothing seemingly out of Haaland’s reach.
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