Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola always makes it a point to clarify that Lionel Messi is the best player he has ever managed.
In December 2022, Guardiola revealed via Sky Sports that Messi is the greatest player he has ever come across in the history of the game.
It has been reported that Pep Guardiola and Messi had a conversation after the latter was keen on reuniting with his former manager at Manchester City in 2020 as he was frustrated with life at Barcelona.
While the legendary pair were not reunited at the Etihad Stadium, their partnership is still cherished by fans and pundits alike.
Under Guardiola, the Rosario-born technician became the best player in the world, winning his first Ballon d’Or during his time at Barcelona in 2009.
Recently, Pep Guardiola likened Erling Haaland to Messi due to his prolific goalscoring record in the Premier League.
Gabby Agbonlahor compares Man City star to Messi
Cesc Fabregas also compared Erling Haaland to Messi; stating that the confidence he felt in the 37-year-old being able to change any game at any time at Barcelona is the same feeling the Manchester City players must have about the Norwegian.
A recent statistic indicated that Haaland is a superior goalscorer to Messi when he too was 24 years old.
The £51 million man often becomes a topic of conversation, much like the Inter Miami talisman.
On talkSPORT, Gabby Agbonlahor initially discussed the fact that Haaland is constantly criticised.
“He had a nice rest, a nice pre-season for once and he’s come back electric. When you hear people sort of come for [Erling] Haaland, like last year, when you heard Roy Keane say he’s a League One or a League Two player.”
Agbonlahor added that in his view, several of the Manchester City phenomenon’s detractors perhaps fail to consider that his lack of involvement in build-up could simply be a managerial instruction.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘You don’t know what the manager’s telling him to do.’ I’ve had managers say to players, stay up there, stay away, you coming in deep, we’ve got so many players that can do that.”
“Bernardo Silva, [Kevin] De Bruyne, [Jack] Grealish, [Phil] Foden, we don’t need you in there. You come off and start getting involved, we’ve got no one in the box. You stay, [it] doesn’t matter if you’re not as involved as much, it doesn’t matter if you’re not getting your running stats up, it’s about scoring goals, that’s it.”
Gabby Agbonlahor went on to state that much like Messi, Haaland can be uninvolved for a certain period of time and proceed to pop up with a goal to turn the game on its head.
“There’s been games where Haaland’s had six touches after 30, 40 minutes. Even less sometimes, then goes and scores, he’s ready, that’s his game.”
“How many times did we see [Lionel] Messi, Ally [McCoist], where he’d be walking around for 20 minutes and then go, ‘Alright, I’m off, let’s go, goal!’ It’s not about running stats, how many touches did you have and were you involved in the build-up, it’s about how many goals you score and that’s why they will win the Premier League.”
Erling Haaland is a match-winner like Lionel Messi
The biggest advantage for any team to have players of the calibre of Haaland and Messi within their ranks is their knack of being able to change the course of a game with a moment of magic.
Whether it is in a knockout game or in a title race, such players often tend to be be the differentiating factor between which team takes home the coveted piece of silverware.
Haaland, much like Messi can have games where he barely touches the ball or impacts the contest until a certain period of time.
But the former Borussia Dortmund striker, as exemplified by his latest brace against West Ham United within the space of 20 minutes is a match-winner.
As a result, the likes of Messi and Haaland are allowed to take their time to get into games.
Once such players find their feet in a game, they lead their team to victory with ease.
