Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Wednesday night, and Gary Lineker was hugely complimentary about one player after the game.
The 2024/25 campaign has been an incredibly tough one for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players on all fronts.
However, Gary Lineker has highlighted how one Man City player has done something truly unbelievable this term.
City are not involved in the Premier League title race, and only have a top four place to fight for.
Meanwhile, Man City and Pep Guardiola were embarrassed by Real Madrid when they were dumped out of the Champions League.
Pep’s side were absolutely atrocious against Liverpool on Sunday at The Etihad, but they bounced back really well with a big win away at Tottenham on Wednesday night.
A top four finish is now in City’s hands.
It won’t be easy, because let’s face it, nothing has been straightforward for Pep’s team this season.
However, there is still one huge positive to take from the season, and nobody has really mentioned it up until now…
Gary Lineker lauds Manchester City star Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has actually been nowhere near his best this season, I’m sure all Man City fans will agree with that.
However, the Norwegian is still absolutely unplayable on his day.
And Linker has highlighted something extraordinary that Haaland has done for Manchester City this season.
When speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker offered high words of praise for the 24-year-old hitman:
“I was following the City Spurs game, I was watching quite a lot of that. Despite the struggles of Manchester City this season, and they have struggled, you have to say that Haaland’s now scored 20 league goals. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?”
Lineker is right, that’s an extremely good record, given City’s struggles this season.
He has 20 goals in 26 Premier League games and 28 in 36 in all competitions to his name so far this term (Transfermarkt).
How many goals Haaland needs to score to crack all-time top 10
The Man City striker is widely regarded as the best in the business.
His record for Manchester City has been truly incredible, as it was for nigh on every other club he’s played for.
| Clubs | Games | Goals |
| Bryne FK | 16 | 0 |
| Molde | 50 | 20 |
| RB Salzburg | 27 | 29 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 89 | 86 |
| Manchester City | 134 | 118 |
| Norway | 39 | 38 |
| Total | 356 | 291 |
A return of 291 goals in all competitions for club and country at the age of just 24 is truly outstanding isn’t it.
But how far away is he from the all-time top scorers list.
The list is topped by Cristiano Ronaldo on 925 goals, with Lionel Messi second on 852 and Pele in third on 762.
The scary thing is the top two on the list are still playing, so Haaland will have to go some if he is to get anywhere near them.
However, the top 10 may well be in his grasp.
In 10th spot sits Joe Bambrick who scored 626 goals from the mid-20’s through to the early 40’s for Glentoran, Linfield, Chelsea and Walsall.
So Haaland needs to score another 335 goals to crack the top 10. That means he will have to score 33.5 goals on average per season for the next 10 years to usurp Bambrick by the time he’s 34.
It’s certainly possible if he avoids injury. Erling Haaland is a truly elite player, and the Manchester City ace is destined to go down as one of the greatest strikers of all-time.
