Manchester City and Manchester United have been two of English football’s biggest rivals over the past 20 years or so.
Indeed, since City were taken over in 2008, the noisy neighbours have been causing United all sorts of problems.
From a 6-1 win in 2011 to pinching Carlos Tevez in 2009, City have caused United a number of issues over the years.
This rivalry has been brilliant, and it’s often been defined by the two teams’ strikers.
Carlos Tevez famously swapped red for blue in the late 2000s, scoring goals in derbies against his old club, while Wayne Rooney almost signed for Man City at one point.
Meanwhile, Robin van Persie picked United over City, while Erling Haaland could’ve joined United at one point too.
Cristiano Ronaldo also had to choose between United and City before his return to Old Trafford in 2021.
All of these strikers have had iconic moments in Manchester derbies, and it is the number nines who have defined this fixture over the years.
Speaking to Goal, John Arne Riise has now made an interesting claim about a former United striker and Erling Haaland.
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John Arne Riise picks Zlatan Ibrahimovic over Erling Haaland
Speaking to Goal, Riise was asked to rank and compare some of the great Scandinavian players of all-time.
The likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Henrik Larsson were mentioned, but, inevitably, it came down to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Erling Haaland, two great Scandinavian strikers who represented different teams in Manchester.
Indeed, Ibrahimovic had a short but sweet stay at Manchester United in the late 2010s after joining on a free transfer.
Riise took some time to think about this question, but, ultimately he picked Ibrahimovic over Haaland due to the fact Haaland is still such a young player.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic compared to Erling Haaland
Haaland and Ibrahimovic are undoubtedly two of the best strikers to ever come from Scandinavia, and, even at the age of just 24, it’s interesting to compare Haaland to Ibrahimovic.
Indeed, despite only being in his mid-20s, Haaland already has legendary status in the game of football, and, in some ways, he has already outdone Ibrahimovic.
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Erling Haaland | |
| 827 | Club games | 318 |
| 496 | Club goals | 253 |
| 0.6 | Goals per game | 0.8 |
| 12 | League titles | 3 |
| 1 | Champions League wins | 1 |
| 9 | Other trophies* | 4 |
| 4th | Highest Ballon d’Or finish | 2nd |
| 122 | International caps | 39 |
| 62 | International goals | 38 |
Of course, Ibrahimovic has the longevity over Haaland, and he has produced some incredibly iconic moments.
However, Haaland’s goalscoring rate is way better than Ibrahimovic’s, and he’s also a Champions League winner.
These two are undoubtedly two of the greatest centre-forwards of all-time, and while Ibrahimovic may be slightly more iconic due to his longevity, there’s a real argument to make that Haaland is the better player.
