Erling Haaland is once again making headlines for his incredible goalscoring ability, after hitting another hat-trick for Manchester City against West Ham United.
The Norwegian powerhouse scored another treble against the Irons to follow up his hat-trick against Ipswich Town the weekend before.
It has been a flying start for Haaland after he got the chance to rest up over the summer.
Unlike most of his teammates, he was not on international duty over the summer. And that has seemed to benefit him a lot.
Haaland is already up to seven goals in the Premier League and some – like Paul Merson – are already feeling as though he has the 2024/25 Golden Boot in the bag.
Haaland has just been devastating in front of goal – and Kevin De Bruyne has now made a big claim about his teammate.
Kevin De Bruyne says Erling Haaland is the ‘the most prolific striker’ he’s ever played with
It must be an absolute dream for De Bruyne to share the field with someone as lethal as Haaland.
De Bruyne is the greatest playmaker in Premier League history, with the star making 113 assists in the competition.
City fans know full well that this tally could actually be considerably higher had the likes of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus been a bit more clinical while they were both at the club.
But De Bruyne now has Haaland ahead of him, and the Belgian knows he is a totally different animal.
In fact, De Bruyne says Haaland is actually the most clinical striker he has ever played with.
He said (as quoted by the Daily Mail): “It’s a hard question. In the box, I’d say yes. All around, maybe Kun (Sergio Aguero) but it depends on what you talk about. Erling is the most prolific striker I’ve played with.
“I’ve played with really good strikers like Kun, Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres, there’s some good guys. ‘It’s hard to compare but the stats speak for themselves. He’s started the season on fire and let’s hope he maintains it.”
De Bruyne comments are understandable
This is huge praise for Haaland from a genuine great of the game and arguably the greatest playmaker in Premier League history in De Bruyne.
Haaland is absolutely ruthless in front of goal, and it has been that way pretty much since he broke through at Molde.
The 24-year-old has always just had that knack of finding the net from positions inside the penalty area.
Sergio Aguero was one of the all-time great Premier League strikers, but he was not as clinical as Haaland is. However, De Bruyne is right to suggest the Argentine was a better all-round player. Aguero was simply amazing in and around the box, as well as in it.
But there is still plenty of time for Haaland to develop this side of his game – already this season, he looks much better in terms of his link-up play and technical ability.
