Norwegian sensation Erling Haaland is playing down comparisons with football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, saying he can’t be compared to them just yet.
The Norwegian who has been turning heads around in the top echelon clubs in the continent has been in sizzling form for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 33 goals in 31 appearances this season.
He’s also carved a niche for himself with record-breaking spectacular performances in the Champions League, becoming the quickest player to reach 20 goals in the Europe’s premier club competition.
He achieved this remarkable feat in only 14 games, considerably faster than Messi and Ronaldo – who took 40 and 56 games respectively.
But when queried about the Messi and Ronaldo comparisons, Haaland feels he still has a long to way to go.
“I think only of myself, to improve my game every day,” Haaland told Dagbladet.
“I don’t need to talk about Messi and Ronaldo, probably the best players in history. I still need a lot to reach them.”
This season, Messi has scored four more goals than Haaland, while Ronaldo has logged 30 – noticeably three less than Haaland in all competitions.
The 20-year-old wunderkind is being tipped to outscore both Messi and Ronaldo if he were to continue finding the net at the staggering rate he is performing with such amazing consistency.
Journalist Raphael Honigstein told talkSPORT:
“He’s only played 30 months at this level, and he’s only going to get better. If you put him in a better team… I don’t know where this could stop.
“The stats are crazy, if he continues scoring at the same level he will outscore both Ronaldo and Messi, which seems absolutely crazy to contemplate, but he could do it!”