Lionel Messi’s spell at Barcelona has a case for being the greatest period any player across the history of football has spent at a single club.
Messi spent 17 years in his boyhood club’s senior team and made a habit of making history.
From individual records such as becoming La Liga’s highest-ever goalscorer (474 goals) to winning every possible trophy at club level, the Argentine’s spell at Barcelona is arguably incomparable to any other.
Manuel Akanji named Messi as his toughest-ever opponent — which is a testament to his longevity in the game.
Erling Haaland named Messi as the greatest player to have ever graced the sport as well.
The Inter Miami forward naturally commands respect and especially for his fairytale spell at Barcelona.
Gabby Agbonlahor compares Man City superstar to Messi
But Cesc Fabregas likened Haaland to Messi in the sense that he always used to feel confident that the World Cup winner could change the course of any game; a feeling he believes the Manchester City players share about their star striker.
Considering Fabregas not only played with the 37-year-old in Barcelona’s first-team but also youth level, the fact that he has compared the Norwegian to him in this respect speaks volumes of the match-winner City have within their ranks.
Over three weeks ago, it was also revealed that Haaland has outscored Messi by the time both players were 24 years of age.
Gerard Pique praised Haaland by claiming he has “a lot of potential” but he still has a way to go to be comparable to his former teammate; a sentiment that would perhaps commonly be held.
However, Gabby Agbonlahor feels the £51 million man is scoring goals at a rate that reminds him of Messi did during his time at Barcelona.
On talkSPORT, the pundit said: “For me, this guy is doing things that we have not seen before. He’s doing things that [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo have been doing in La Liga. He’s turning the Premier League into not the league that we think we are in because he has scored nine goals in four games.”
“If he continues this, you are talking 85 goals this season in the Premier League, so someone has got to stop him but it’s difficult. He’s not paid to come into number 10 positions and get on the ball. He’s paid to score goals and he has been clinical.”
Erling Haaland is comparable to Lionel Messi as a goalscorer
Pep Guardiola likened Haaland to Messi in terms of his goalscoring ability.
Considering Guardiola closely worked with the former Paris Saint-Germain phenomenon, his admission goes to show how special of a goalscorer the 24-year-old is.
It goes without saying that Haaland is not as well-rounded a player as Messi in terms of his dribbling, chance creation, technical quality and versatility.
But in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net, the Manchester City striker is operating at a level that has prompted Gabby Agbonlahor and many others to compare him to the three-time Champions League winner.
For Haaland to match Messi’s goalscoring numbers by the end of his career, he will have to focus on remaining incredibly consistent as well as his longevity in the game.
