If Erling Haaland continues to improve at the trajectory he has at the end of his career, he seems destined to go down as one of the greatest forwards in the history of the game.
Haaland is as close to a 24-year-old player already being the finished article.
Yet, similar claims could have been made about the £51 million man a few years ago when he was at Borussia Dortmund.
However, in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium, Haaland enjoyed his best goalscoring season; indicating that year after year, he is improving as a player.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance, left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid at 24 years of age — at a time where he was one of the two best players in the world alongside Lionel Messi.
If Ronaldo had peaked at Old Trafford, he would not have been able to rival Messi for the title of the best player in the world for the next decade.
Haaland vs Messi and Ronaldo: goals at 24 years of age emerge
Similarly, the Manchester City striker also seems destined to continue getting better and better — especially as players are expected to play their best football once they hit around 26 or 27 years of age.
Recently, Haaland admitted he feels pain-free for the first time in a while and considering how he has started the 2024/2025 campaign, he could be set to potentially have his best season in his career.
But so far in his career, the Norwegian international has set standards as a forward not many have at his age.
Especially in terms of scoring goals, even the likes of Messi and Ronaldo fall short.
So much so, that Amazon Prime Video Sport revealed that at 24, Messi and Ronaldo scored 197 and 132 goals in 326 and 362 appearances respectively.
Haaland, on the other hand, has scored a staggering 260 goals in 315 appearances.
Despite playing lesser games than the legendary pair, the Leeds-born striker has far more goals.
In terms of their respective goal-per-game ratios at 24, Haaland’s stands at 0.82 while Messi’s was 0.58 and Ronaldo’s was 0.36.
Erling Haaland could go down as the greatest goalscorer ever
However, where Messi and Ronaldo benefited was their admirable availability as well as their longevity.
The Barcelona and Real Madrid icons managed to largely remain injury-free while constantly adapting their game to remain outstanding goalscorers.
Haaland could surpass both players in terms of his goal tally based on his track record so far.
But the question will be whether the Manchester City phenom can adapt his game season upon season similarly and manage to stay fit for another decade at least.
If Haaland manages to do so, the sky is the limit for him in terms of his goalscoring record.
