DBasia.news – Although Erling Haaland is dubbed a goal machine, the Manchester City striker has been phenomenal since moving to the Premier League from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
Haaland has scored 17 goals in his first 11 games for City, and manager Pep Guardiola has warned the striker will continue to improve.
At just 22 years old, Haaland already has 152 goals at club level and 21 for Norway, putting him on course to become one of the all-time great goalscorers.
However, what are the achievements of football legends when they were 22 years old? Check out the following reviews.
Lionel Messi
When it comes to the greatest player he has ever coached, Guardiola never fails to mention Messi.
“[Haaland] can be a better player [than Messi], he can have the will to do it,” Guardiola said after Haaland’s Premier League debut. “He loves football, I’ve never seen a 21 or 22-year-old player, maybe Messi has progressed, but the rest is never finished and you can always improve.”
However, when it comes to scoring goals, the Argentine superstar is nowhere near the incredible numbers Haaland is at at the same age.
Messi has scored 44 goals in 112 appearances for Barcelona, although he spends most of his time as a winger, and has contributed to three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.
It was also the age where he skyrocketed as a goalscorer, scoring 628 goals in his next 666 games for the Catalans, and at the age of 23 he had already won the Ballon d’Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Like Messi, Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or at the age of 22, although he was runner-up when Kaka was named the world’s best footballer the previous year.
He also spent his career as a winger, with his 50th career goal coming just before his 22nd birthday in April, while the wait for his first hat-trick came six months later.
However, in some ways Ronaldo has a similar story to Haaland, as he also decided moving to Manchester was the best way to really announce himself as a football star.
Kylian Mbappe
If Messi and Ronaldo dominated the last decade or so, then Haaland and Mbappe would be the strikers to be in the limelight for at least the next ten years.
The rivalry has already begun after the Paris Saint-Germain striker mocked Haaland’s ‘zen’ celebration after beating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in 2020.
Mbappe is 18 months older than Haaland but won the Golden Boy three seasons earlier than the Norwegian after brilliant years with AS Monaco, PSG and France in 2017.
He currently excels in the club’s total goals tally, with 208 goals from 286 appearances at an average of 0.73 goals per game, while Haaland has a goals ratio of 0.78 per game.
It’s also similar to when comparing the stage of their careers at international level, with Mbappe (28) 7 goals ahead of Haaland (21), and with more games (Mbappe 59 caps, Haaland 23).
Karim Benzema
The debate over who is the best striker in the world right now is a hot topic, but Benzema has got plenty of support to win the Ballon d’Or in the coming weeks.
His superstar status has skyrocketed towards the end of his career, largely coming out of Ronaldo’s shadow, although he has always been a consistent player.
At the age of 21, he was monitored by Europe’s top clubs having scored 66 goals in 148 appearances for Lyon, and Real Madrid defeated Manchester United for his signature in 2009.
However, in his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu, he only managed to score 9 goals.
That means when compared to last season, at 34 years old, his total of 44 goals is the best of his career.